Stars vs. Lightning Game 5 Prediction
Will the Tampa Bay Lightning hoist the Stanley Cup tonight when they take on the Dallas Stars in Game 5? The puck drops at 8:00 p.m. ET on NBC.
Game Snapshot
029 Dallas Stars (+144) vs. 030 Tampa Bay Lightning (-160); o/u 5
8:00 p.m. ET, Saturday, September 26, 2020
Game 5, Stanley Cup Finals
Dallas Stars DFS Spin
Anton Khudobin allowed five goals on 35 shots in Friday’s 5-4 overtime Game 4 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. It was a picture perfect start for Khudobin and the Stars, looking like they’d end the opening period up 2-0 but a goal from Brayden Point with 33 seconds remaining in the opening period killed all momentum for Dallas. Things went back-and-forth from there, with Joe Pavelski forcing overtime but a bad penalty in the extra frame by Jamie Benn gave the Lightning the perfect opportunity to end this game. The Stars will be fighting for their lives on Saturday night on the second half of a back-to-back, and Khudobin will almost surely be in goal unless Ben Bishop could miraculously recover from his mystery ailment. A loss would end Khudobin’s cinderella run to the Cup Final. He’ll enter Game 5 with a 13-9 record, a 2.81 goals-against-average and a .915 save percentage
Tampa Bay Lightning DFS Spin
Andrei Vasilevski allowed four goals on 30 shots in Friday’s 5-4 overtime Game 4 win over the Dallas Stars. It was a tough start to the game for Vasilevskiy, giving up the opening goal to John Klingberg on one he’d absolutely love to get back. However, the Russian netminder did bounce back from there, making some big stops to keep the Lightning in it long enough to crawl back. Vasilevskiy will see his postseason record improve to 17-6, with a 1.96 goals-against-average and a .926 save percentage. He and his teammates are now just one win away from winning the Stanley Cup. Game 5 is scheduled for Saturday night but there is little to no chance that Tampa will give Vasilevskiy the night off even if it is a back-to-back.
Stars vs. Lightning Stanley Cup Final Betting Prediction
The Stars are now 3-8 in their last 11 meetings with the Lightning, while the favorite is 9-4 in the last 13 meetings between these two teams. Dallas is also just 1-4 in its last five Stanley Cup Final games, is 1-5 in its last six games versus the Eastern Conference and 1-5 in its last six matchups with Atlantic Division foes. Meanwhile, the Lightning are 43-16 in their last 59 games overall, have won four of their last five playoff games and are 41-11 in their last 52 games when playing the fourth of a 4-in-6 situation. Tampa Bay closes out Dallas tonight.
2020 STANLEY CUP FINAL GAME 5 BETTING PREDICTION: TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING -160
