The Montreal Canadiens will once again be looking to extend their Stanley Cup Final clash with the Tampa Bay Lightning when they hit the ice on Wednesday night for Game 5 as +185 road underdogs on the NHL odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Teetering on the brink of elimination, Montreal responded with a solid performance in Game 4, eking out a 3-2 overtime victory that cut the team’s series deficit to 3-1 going into Wednesday night’s matchup at Amalie Arena.
With netminder Carey Price standing tall, the Canadiens withstood a furious attack by Tampa Bay earlier in Monday’s contest before opening the scoring with just their second shot on goal in the first period. And while the Canadiens managed to blow a pair of one-goal leads in Monday’s contest, the defensive style that has become their trademark during these playoffs proved effective at containing the vaunted Lightning offence for the first time in this series.
However, the Canadiens face massive challenges if they are to rebound and raise the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1993, including an eight-game losing streak at Amalie Arena.
The Canadiens are also battling history, with no team managing to overcome a 3-0 series deficit to win the Stanley Cup since the Toronto Maple Leafs accomplished that feat way back in 1942. In addition, Montreal has failed to earn consecutive wins in 19 meetings with the Lightning since October 2016, which also marked the last time the team recorded four straight victories over Tampa Bay. Not surprisingly, the Canadiens continue to lag well back of Tampa Bay as +1200 longshots on the NHL playoff series prices.
Despite all those challenges, there are plenty of positives to consider. With Monday’s victory, the Canadiens are now undefeated in four outings when facing elimination from this year’s NHL playoffs. Montreal now also sports a 3-1 record in its past four games against the Lightning when facing elimination.
As for the Lightning, they return home for Wednesday’s clash set as -225 favourites at sports betting sites for Game 5. Tampa Bay’s strong position on the Game 5 odds has been well earned. The team has been dominant at home during this postseason, going 8-3 in 11 outings, and has surrendered just four total goals during its current 5-0 run at Amalie Arena.
In addition, the Lightning have managed to avoid back-to-back losses through their first 22 playoff games. Those impressive trends have helped lift the Lightning to massive -4000 chalk to eventually knock off Montreal and repeat as Stanley Cup champions.
