NHL Best Bet: Sunday, June 26th

The Colorado Avalanche was unable to seal the deal at home and now both teams return to Tampa Bay for Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals. The experienced Lightning roster once again found the ability to come up with a big showing on the road to extend the series and now our resident NHL guru Ej Garr hopes to see a big home win that forces a Game 7 back in Denver.

NHL Best BetL June 26th

• Tampa Bay vs. Colorado: Tampa Bay to Win (OT Incl)

Odds as of 10 pm June 25th, 2022. Odds may now differ.

Tampa Bay vs Colorado Best Bet

June 27, 01:00 UK time

All right, well, was that a damn game or what? Game 5 was amazing even though both teams didn’t score for me in the opening frame. So which team was the one full of nerves for Game 5 back in Denver last night? Colorado or Tampa?

Colorado had the fans behind them in a big way but being in a position to close out the biggest series of your life is no easy task. Remember now, there is not a lot of winning experience on the Avs roster and if you watched Game 5 you see the pregame preview with Erik Johnson who is the longest-tenured player with Colorado.

Johnson was here when the Avs landed in last place just a few years ago and now they are in a position to clinch their first cup win since the 2000-01 campaign. Hey, it is still 3 – 2 Colorado as we head back to Tampa so the hardware will be in the building again tonight.

They showed the glorious trophy last night near the Avs locker room when it was 2 – 2 in the 3rd period and we all wondered if it would take the ice after Game 5. Well, Ondrej Palat wasn’t letting that happen because he scored the goal that broke the tie and eventually gave the Ning the Game 5 win forcing tonight’s affair.

Palat has now scored 11 goals in these playoffs and 7 of those lamplighters have come in the 3rd period when the pressure is at its highest. He is tied for the record now that had been held for 25 years and that was also his 12th game-winning goal in his post-season career. 

Now, the trick is being able to maintain your composure because it looked like the Avs were the team feeling the pressure to get the win at home to finish off the Lightning. For an inexperienced team, not to say that Colorado has a young roster, they just haven’t had much success in the post-season in recent years and my concern is now the confidence of Darcy Kuemper. 

Listen, this dude only has a few experiences to talk about in the playoffs because he has been on some pretty bad teams over the years. His last 3 years in Arizona were a bust although he had some moments in Minnesota.

Regardless, we all know that Andrei Vasilevskiy knows can put himself in a zone that is tough to break, and his confidence just went boom after Game 5. Some of the saves he made last night were outstanding, and I swear he didn’t see at least 4 of those pucks that just found his glove or pad, and he was excellent!

I could sit here for 2,000 words and go bonkers talking about how great this series has been even without the amount of goal scoring I think we were all hoping to see. Regardless, Tampa Bay is coming back home, and now the pressure is still on Colorado, believe it or not. Now, the Avs are not only the team in a position to win one game for glory, but they have to be aware that Tampa Bay loves elimination games and they know how to deal with the nerves.

With that said, now that Colorado didn’t close it out at home, they will get another chance in a couple of days when we go back to Denver for an what should be an amazing Game 7… Hopefully! 

• Selection: Tampa Bay Moneyline
• Best odds: 2.05 (Marathonbet)
• Stakes 4/10

Odds as of 10 pm June 25th 2022. Odds may now differ.

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