The Tampa Bay Lightning might've beaten the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, but they're certainly worse for wear. Jon Cooper will have a lot of injury woes to try to cover up in a hurry before Game 2 comes around on Monday night.
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ODDS ANALYSIS
If you thought the Pens were big favorites before, wait until you see where they're at in a game they really have to win on their home ice to avoid going down 0-2 and heading back to Tampa.
The Pens closed at -178 on Friday for Game 1, and they'll surely open up well beyond -200 for Game 2 even though they were dominated for large parts of the opening game.
GOALIE REPORT
Of course, the reason for the big line move is Ben Bishop's injury. Though x-rays came back negative, we can't imagine he's going to be available for this game on Monday night after suffering what looked to be a potentially catastrophic injury in Game 1.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made himself a folk hero in Tampa almost immediately, though. He stopped 25-of-26 shots in his first ever playoff appearance, and he has to be brimming with confidence going into what will surely be his first postseason start.
Matt Murray though, might be on some thin ice. The time might be here to call upon Flower Power in the 'Burgh.
Marc-Andre Fleury has been sitting out this entire postseason injured, but he's healthy again and might be called upon for Game 2 of this series. Murray stopped just 17-of-20 shots in what was his worst performance of the playoffs as we see it, and even if he does get the start, he's sure to have a relatively short leash at this point.
LIVE BETTING
The big question we have for the Bolts is what their top lines are going to look like. By all accounts, Ryan Callahan could be suspended for at least Game 2 after he took a major run at Kris Letang in what amounted to be a bit of retaliation for the shot Letang took that knocked Tyler Johnson out of the game in the first period.
With Callahan likely not playing on Monday and Johnson still a big question mark after his knee-on-knee collision, that could leave the Bolts really scrapping for forwards. Let's not forget that Steven Stamkos is still out as well. The shuttle from Syracuse over to Pittsburgh could be crowded with centers in the Lightning organization.
QUICK PICK
Even though the Lightning are in a lot of trouble right now, they've proven to be gritty before. They won Game 1 without Johnson for most of the way and without Bishop for all but a few minutes as well. Can they really win Game 2 without both men and perhaps Callahan as well?
You wouldn't like to think so, but you really never know. The Pens really had nothing going offensively the whole night, especially from the Sidney Crosby line which featured a total of just seven shots on goal. If the defense can continue to make life relatively easier for Vasilevskiy, you never know if he might be ready for the three weeks or so of his life.
We don't think Tampa Bay wins this game more often than not, but more than one out of three times? We think so.
NHL Odds: Lightning 3, Penguins 2
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