Not expecting to write another column until September, I predicted that there would be no Game 6. Nevertheless, here is the next intrepid prediction. But wait!! You can’t just choose players. You have to decide if the Colorado Avalanche are determined and desperate enough to close the series, or if the Tampa Bay Lightning will use their experience and the energy of a frantic crowd to force Game 7.
You see, being a lukewarm and safe bettor will almost always find the middle ground, and you’ll be out of the winnings. Spectacularly WRONG 3 out of 4 times can PAY if you are spectacularly right for this other. And looking away from the obvious choices, at least some, can also put you in that top 10% predictor, earning you a good return.
My vision of the game for tonight is a Colorado Cup 5-3. Yes, Andrei Vasilevskiy can steal a game, BUT personally I saw it happen on Friday night! The Avs led the game, outshot the Bolts by a wide margin, and the only difference was in the net. I see Colorado still having more than 40 shots Sunday night. Darcy Kuemper will never steal one of those games against Tampa, but he doesn’t have to.
And so, programming. At Captain, I’ll take the crushing Colorado “C” Gabriel Landeskog ($11,700 with the 50% bonus), and add Nathan MacKinnon ($11,400) to get out of its mini-crisis. Then Conn Smythe the future winner Cale Makar ($10,400) and Logan O’Connor ($2,000, site minimum). Lightning, I have Victor Hedman ($8800) and Corey Perry ($5,600), who is fighting to avoid the personal ignominy of becoming the first NHL player to lose in the Finals 3 years in a row, all with different teams. No guards. Even with points for a win, their values fade after 3 goals, and Tampa didn’t have the shot volume.
I think Game 6 will feature all the effort, with lots of drama and momentum changes. But the avalanche wins, and Landeskog (not Phil Pritchard) will have champagne and the Cup by his side for the flight back to Denver. Six of the last seven Stanley Cup championships have been won on the road, and only Tampa Bay last year broke that pattern.
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