The Tampa Bay Lightning and Montreal Canadiens play Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final Friday. Puck drop is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET at Bell Centre. Below, we analyze the Lightning vs. Canadiens Stanley Cup Final Game 3 odds and lines, with NHL picks and predictions.
The Lightning took a 2-0 series lead with a pair of resounding victories in front of their raucous home crowd. They outscored the Canadiens 8-2 in the first two games of this series.
Quebec’s provincial government allows up to 3,500 spectators at Bell Centre, and the public health department denied the Habs’ request to increase capacity for Games 3 and 4. That is the big story, as Montreal won’t be able to feed off the same kind of intense crowd as the Lightning did in Tampa, Fla.
Lightning at Canadiens: Odds, spread and lines
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 7:45 a.m. ET.
- Money line: Lightning -135 (bet $135 to win $100) | Canadiens +110 (bet $100 to win $110)
- Against the spread/ATS: Lightning -1.5 (+200) | Canadiens +1.5 (-250)
- Over/Under: 5 (O: -115 | U: -105)
Lightning at Canadiens: Projected starting goalies
Andrei Vasilevskiy (31-10-1, 2.21 GAA, .925 SV%, 5 SO) vs. Carey Price (12-7-5, 2.64 GAA, .901 SV%, 1 SO). Stats from regular season.
Vasilevskiy was much busier in Game 2 than in Game 1, making 42 saves in the 3-1 victory. He was equal to the task and has been the difference so far in this series.
Price was better in Game 2 after getting shredded for 5 goals in the series opener, but it still wasn’t good enough. He has posted a .840 SV% in two losses, allowing 8 goals on just 50 shots in this series.
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Canadiens at Lightning: Odds, lines, predictions and picks
Prediction
Lightning 3, Canadiens 2
Money line (ML)
The LIGHTNING (-135) are a decent play on the road, as they look to ice the Canadiens again and put the home side in a precarious 3-0 series hole.
Montreal’s offense has disappeared in this series with a total of just 2 goals. While the lack of a boisterous crowd might throw Tampa off a little, it saw it before in the bubble last season and wasn’t distracted.
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Against the spread (ATS)
The CANADIENS +1.5 (-250) are very expensive, and I am a little reluctant to pay such a price. However, I do not think we’ve seen the best of Montreal yet in this series, and we’ll get the Habs’ best effort here.
I believe this one goes to overtime, although it ends in disappointment for the home side just like the first two games.
Over/Under (O/U)
I believe the total lands right on 5 goals, and that’s why I cannot stand flat five lines.
I actually lean more to the alternate line of OVER 4.5 (-200), rather than the Under 5.5 (-185), as I believe the Habs are able to generate slightly more offense on home ice than in Tampa.
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