The NHL Stanley Cup 2022 is well underway and we have got a huge game 2 waiting on us tonight between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The first game ended in a 5-0 whitewash in favor of the Maple Leafs, and now Tampa will be looking for revenge and to get even in game two of their best of seven series.
We’ll take a look ahead to the game between these two great NHL sides and see if we can come up with the best betting tips for you to earn some extra cash ahead of the game.
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Game 1 was an absolute wipe out in favour of the hosts, as the Maple Leafs routed to a resounding 5-0 win.
Goals from Auston Matthews (x2), Mitch Marner, David Kampf and Jake Muzzin saw off the visitors in dominant fashion, as they completely limited the Lightning to zero offense – giving goalie Jack Campbell a relatively easy night between the posts.
The second period in particular was dominant as the Maple Leafs scored three goals to really blow their opponents away and leave the result in little to no doubt heading into the final stretch.
Psychologically that will be huge for them as they host this game once again, and they will be keen to inflict similar damage on their opponents going forward to really get a big edge going into the rest of the series.
The Maple Leafs have been the moneyline favorite in 74 games this season during the regular season, and they’ve come out victorious on 52 occasions. That shows they are more than ready and willing to compete with that added pressure in games.
Previous encounters between these two sides have produced goals. In 56 of the 84 matches this season we’ve seen more than six goals and over the last ten games the hosts have got a 7-3 record. In that time they have scored 43 goals, for an average of 4.3 goals per game, while only allowing 31 goals in the same period of time for an average of 3.1 goals conceded per game.
Overall for the season, their record is arguably even better too.
They averaged 3.83 goals scored per game, ranking them in second across the entire NHL, while they conceded an average of 3.09 goals per game for a ranking of 19th across the entire NHL.
They take a lot of shots too, hence their great goal record, averaging 34.5 shots per game ranking them seventh across the NHL for most taken.
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When Tampa Bay have been the underdog, they tend to have delivered for the bookies with just three wins from 12 games on such occasions this season.
The Lightning have generally been pretty hit and miss with their goal tallies for the campaign, with over six goals scored in 46 of 84 games this season for a percentage of 54.8%.
In their last ten fixtures they have got a winning record of 7-2-1, scoring 37 goals for an average of 3.7 goals per game while they have conceded just 25 times in that period for an average of 2.5 goals per game. Five of those of course, came in the first game of the series.
Across the entire season they’ve been relatively average when it comes to their averages too. They have scored 3.47 goals per game this season, ranking them in seventh across the entire NHL, while they have conceded only 2.8 goals per game this season which ranks them as the sixth best defence.
Their conversion rate is solid considering they only manage to take an average of 30.8 shots per game, ranking them in 17th across the NHL, but defensively they’ve been brilliant allowing just 29.7 shots per game for a league ranking of seventh.
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Toronto are quite clearly the stronger team of the two and their offensive lineup proved that in game one.
Going forward they’re so strong and defensively they’re strong enough to cope with an offensive setup that isn’t prolific enough to go the distance in this tournament realistically.
There is an old saying that attack wins you games and defence wins you titles, but it’s goals that win games and if you can’t score to take advantage of your strong defence you’re always leaving yourself with a mountain to climb in games.
Just days after getting pummelled in the same arena by the same team, the psychological edge is unlikely to help them either.
Back the Maple Leafs to win on the spread of -1.5 goals and watch the money roll in.
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About the Author
Daniel is a football writer who has a great thirst for the Premier League and other major European leagues. A lover of the beautiful game and a firm believer that the eye test is better than statistics. Also an avid MMA fan.
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