The Tampa Bay Lightning and Montreal Canadiens face off in the 2021 Stanley Cup Finals, with Game 1 starting Monday. Here's a complete breakdown of the matchup:

Team Offense: Tampa Bay Advantage

• Lightning average 3.22 goals per game vs Montreal's 2.53
• Tampa Bay's power play: 37.7% vs Montreal's 20.9%
• Brayden Point leads playoffs with 14 goals
• Nikita Kucherov leads with 27 points (5 goals, 22 assists)
• Eight different Lightning players have game-winning goals

Team Defense: Montreal Advantage

• Canadiens' penalty kill has stopped 30 straight penalties
• Montreal: 4 shorthanded goals scored, only 3 allowed
• Strong defensive core: Weber, Chiarot, Petry, Merill
• Excellent at limiting deflections and screens
• Tampa has elite Victor Hedman but Montreal better overall defensively

Goaltending: Tampa Bay Slight Advantage

• Both goalies among NHL's best
• Vasilevskiy: .936 save%, 1.99 GAA, 4 shutouts
• Price: .934 save%, 2.04 GAA, 1 shutout
• Vasilevskiy edges Price in advanced stats:
  • Goals saved above expected: 7.3 vs 4.04
  • High danger save%: .896 vs .878

Series Odds:

• Tampa Bay to win series: -250
• Montreal to win series: +210
• Most likely outcome: Tampa in 4-1 (+365)
• Least likely: Montreal sweep (+2200)

Tampa Bay enters as the betting favorite but Montreal's surprising playoff run makes them a dangerous underdog.

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