Dallas Looks to Their Stars to Extend Series Lead Versus Tampa Bay
The Tampa Bay Lightning are set to take on the Dallas Stars in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals, on Monday night.
With Dallas taking a 1-0 series lead, Tampa Bay has their backs against the wall. Tampa Bay has the playoff experience to get the job done, now they have to go out and show it.
Last time out…
In the first game of the series, Dallas defeated Tampa Bay by a 4-1 margin. Now, Tampa Bay will look to use their high-powered offense to even it up. Jason Dickson, Joel Kiviranta, Joel Hanley, and Jamie Oleksiak all scored for Dallas, while Yanni Gourde put one home for Tampa Bay.
Keys to the game...
Heading into the second game, one of the keys for Dallas is going to be to get more pucks towards the net. In Game 1, it was all about efficiency. Tampa Bay led 36-20 in terms of shots.
Dallas is going to have to rely on their veterans to get the job done. Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin are two names I have in mind. They have been consistent
throughout the entire playoffs, and they will have to be relied upon at some point in this series to close out the win.
For Tampa Bay, they are going to have to rely on a better performance from their goaltender. Andrei Vasilevskiy allowed three goals on Saturday. Tampa Bay did a good job of keeping the puck away from him, but Dallas was able to convert
on their chances. Knowing that Dallas is going to be an opportunistic team, Tampa Bay needs to make sure they keep as much traffic away from the net as possible and give Vasilevskiy an opportunity to see shots.
In addition to a strong performance from the goaltender Tampa Bay is going to have to rely on their top stars to generate more scoring. Victor Hedman and Nikita Kucherov are two names I have in mind. They need to get shots to the net and early. There is also a chance that Steven Stamkos could be back for Tampa Bay on Monday. That could certainly give the Lightning additional scoring opportunities.
Game 2 Pick...
Given how this series is going, I feel comfortable taking Tampa Bay on the moneyline at 1.66. I do not see them losing back-to-back games, but it should be a close contest.
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-- Analysis by Danny the Geek
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