There's nothing quite like a Game 7 in the NHL playoffs. There's really nothing like a Game 7 between two teams which have had such insane momentum swings over the course of this whole series.
The Pittsburgh Penguins have the momentum on their side after winning Game 6 of this series, and they're going to be helped by being back on their home ice. The Tampa Bay Lightning are reeling, but they were left for dead in this series a long time ago and are essentially playing with house money.
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ODDS ANALYSIS
The Penguins were -133 to survive their first elimination game of this postseason, and they're going to be pretty darn close to -200 in their second. It's a tremendous margin in a Game 7, but it's tough to argue that, for the most part, Pittsburgh has been the better of these two teams by a wide margin.
GOALIE REPORT
Of course, the great equalizer is fantastic goaltending. You wouldn't know that Andrei Vasilevskiy has had a great series based on his stats thus far; he only has a 2.88 GAA and a .921 save percentage. However, one glance at the way he's played, and there's no doubt he's Tampa's MVP of this series.
Ben Bishop may or may not be available to come back for Game 7, but we don't think it matters anymore. Vasy has played his heart out in this series and deserves the chance to play in Game 7.
The Penguins made the somewhat shocking turn back to Matt Murray in Game 6 after he was pulled in Game 4 for the experienced Marc-Andre Fleury. Fleury was awful in Game 5 though, and that put the rookie in the really tough spot of having to get back in the pipes just four days after getting yanked and three days after getting benched seemingly for good.
Murray didn't have a particularly tough Game 6, especially through two periods, but in the third, he showed some cracks. The team in front of him played incredibly well, and that made his sometimes shoddy play look unimportant.
LIVE BETTING
Evgeni Malkin is a mild-mannered player for the most part, and he often doesn't say a heck of a lot in the media, so it really made headlines when he guaranteed that the Pens were coming back to the 'Burgh for Game 7. The stat sheet will only say that he had a lone assist in Game 6, but he was probably the best forechecking forward on the ice on either side, and he surely had a huge impact on the game.
Throw in Sidney Crosby's goal and an assist and the general play defensively of this team, and that's how the Penguins got this series back to Pittsburgh.
QUICK PICK
Still, it's a Game 7, and Game 7s are often won by superior goaltending. It happened for St. Louis twice. It happened for San Jose. It happened for Nashville. And it'll happen here as well. Whichever team has the stronger goalie in Game 7 is going to win this series, and basically every step of the way, the best goalie has been Vasilevskiy.
No team has ever reached the Stanley Cup Finals without their top goal scorer from the regular season playing a single game in the playoffs. The Lightning could legitimately be the first to do so with Steven Stamkos still out.
The pick goes against all common logic, but every time there's been a dominant side in this series, the other team has managed to strike back. Lightning could strike once again in Pittsburgh in Game 7. Either way, we expect one heck of a game.
NHL Odds: Lightning 3, Penguins 2
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