3 Reasons why the Tampa Bay Lightning will sweep the 2021 Stanley Cup Final
There’s 3 big reasons why the Tampa Bay Lightning will win the Stanley Cup Final on Monday.
This could be it with the Tampa Bay Lightning needing just one more win to go back-to-back as Stanley Cup Champions, and they could do it in style by beating the Montreal Canadiens in Game 4 tonight to sweep the series.
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It has been a summer to remember for the Bolts so far who have been dominant throughout the postseason, and they’ve really illustrated just how much of a juggernaut they are in the Stanley Cup Final by completely owning the Canadiens.
Tampa has outshot the Habs 14-5, they’ve been ruthless, they have had contributions from up and down the lineup, they’ve gotten elite goaltending and they’ve been able to get the job done even when they’ve not been at their best, which was the case in Game 2.
As such, the Bolts are now on the cusp of winning their second straight championship and they would become only the ninth team in the history of the National Hockey League to go back-to-back, with the Pittsburgh Penguins the last team to do it in 2015-16 and 2016-17.
No team has swept the Stanley Cup Final since the Detroit Red Wings achieved that remarkable feat back in 1998 against the Washington Capitals, and here’s three reasons why the Lightning will follow in their footsteps tonight…
3 Reasons why the Tampa Bay Lightning will sweep the 2021 Stanley Cup Final
3. Experience
The Bolts have been here before.
Experience counts for a lot during the heat of postseason battle, and Tampa Bay has an abundance of it having won the Stanley Cup in 2020 inside the Bubble, where they had to overcome a boatload of adversity in order to win the greatest prize on the planet.
It is also important to remember that this team has been a legit contender for well over five years now, so they know a thing or two about making deep runs and what it takes to win on the biggest stage with the pressure really on.
And, in a position to now finish the job in the Stanley Cup Final, the Lightning can look back on last season’s experience to help them ahead of tonight, because there are plenty of similarities between the two runs.
For starters, they played in front of no fans last year because of the COVID-19 Pandemic and, while there will be 3,500 fans inside the Bell Centre tonight, that experience of being on their own with no fans or family will aid them tonight.
But, and most importantly, Head Coach Jon Cooper has spoken of how thoughts were starting to drift towards lifting the Stanley Cup before Game 5 of the Final last year, a game they lost to the Dallas Stars to force a Game 6.
Tampa did get the job done eventually but having allowed themselves to get distracted last season, that shouldn’t be a problem tonight and you can bet a lot of money that this team will be completely focussed on the task at hand which is getting the job done in Game 4.
The celebrating can be done later.
2. Andrei Vasilevskiy
Goaltending was pinpointed as one of the biggest battles and talking points of this Stanley Cup Final prior to Game 1, with Canadiens goalie Carey Price and Tampa Bay No. 1 Andrei Vasilevskiy both at the peak of their powers this postseason.
Many felt that matchup would help to decide the outcome of this series and it is advantage Tampa Bay so far with Vasilevskiy having outshone his counterpart through the first three games, and it hasn’t been close.
While Price was unstoppable through the first three rounds, he has been found out in the Stanley Cup Final and has been shelled for 14 goals, with the Bolts finding plenty of success through screens, deflections and getting lots of traffic to the net.
On the other hand, Vasilevskiy has been stellar throughout and he’s a potential Conn Smythe candidate, especially if he can stand on his head in Game 4 and help to get the Lightning over the finishing line.
The Vezina Trophy finalist boasts a 15-6-0 record with four shutouts, a .938 Save Percentage and a 1.94 Goals Against Average this postseason, while he’s allowed just five goals on 97 shots in three games this series. Incredible.
Vasilevskiy had a statement game in Game 2 when he made 42 saves to win the game for Tampa who were outplayed by Montreal, and he also made 32 saves in Game 3 with the Habs outshooting their opponent for the second game running.
Overall, Vasilevskiy has been winning the goaltender battle in the 2021 Stanley Cup Final going away and, if he can muster up one more lights out performance between the pipes in a game where he’s likely to face a lot of rubber and a lot of traffic, then the Lightning will be getting their hands on the Stanley Cup later.
Not to mention the fact that Vasilevskiy owns the Canadiens, winning 11 straight against Montreal with a 1.81 Goals Against Average and a .946 Save Percentage.
1. Too Hot to Handle
As good as Carey Price was for the majority of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs – and he was elite – he’s been no match for the Tampa Bay Lightning and he’s had his weakness exposed in this series.
Basically, get traffic to the net, flood the crease with bodies, take away Price’s eyes and good things will happen and that’s been the case for the Lightning who scored three goals off deflections in Game 2, and they also had plenty of success with rebounds in Game 3.
What they’ve also had success with is their explosive offense and also their depth having gotten contributions from up and down the lineup.
While stars in the ilk of Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman have delivered as expected, the Bolts know that any line can produce big time on any given night, and that was none more evident than in Game 3 on Friday.
Defenseman Jan Rutta scored the first goal before gritty forward Tyler Johnson scored a pair of goals and third-liner Blake Coleman added an empty-netter. Those are big-time contributions from all four lines and all three pairings on the backend, and that’s why Tampa has been so successful over the past two postseasons.
And that incredible depth could be key to them sweeping the 2021 Stanley Cup Final tonight because if their big guns get shut down, then there is every chance that other players will step up and deliver the goods and become heroes.
Next. Stanley Cup Final Game 4 Primer. dark
That’s the true hallmark of an elite team, which is what this Tampa Bay Lightning team is and that’s exactly why they are on the cusp of winning a second straight Stanley Cup.