Three Things To Watch In Game 1 Of The Stanley Cup Final

And then there were two. 

A shortened season with a format that probably (hopefully) will never be repeated again has finally reached the Stanley Cup Final. 

Tonight, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Montreal Canadiens will square off for Game 1 at 8:00 PM ET tonight at Amalie Arena. 

Here’s a look at a few of the top storylines for Monday:

Which goalie blinks first? 

You’d be hard-pressed this postseason to find a better goaltending matchup for a Cup Final than Carey Price vs. Andrei Vasilevskiy. Vasilevskiy has a save percentage of .936 while Price comes into this series with a save percentage of .934. Price has turned back the clock this post-season, turning aside nearly everything that Toronto, Winnipeg, and Vegas had for him. 

Vasilevsky has been the anchor in the net this year for Tampa as on top of his playoff success, he’s a finalist for the Vezina for the fourth season in a row. With these two in net and with how both squads can lock things down defensively, don’t rule out some low-scoring games in the series. 

Can Montreal slow down the depth of Tampa Bay? 

The Tampa Bay Lightning’s point leaders are yes, Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point but this team has been getting production from more than just those two. Alex Killorn, the captain Steven Stamkos as well as Anthony Cirelli have been major cogs during this playoff run. 

When you go further down the lines this team has also had timely goals in the playoffs from the third and the fourth line courtesy of Yanni Gourde and Ross Colton. You can’t call the Lightning a one-line team and finding a way to keep that in control will be a major task for Montreal. 

The Cole Caufield Show

So much of the playoff attention has been on the University of Wisconsin product and he’s deserved the praise. In 15 games so far this postseason, the right-winger has put up nine points and has been one of the most dynamic forwards for Montreal. At all strengths, Caufield is third on the team when it comes to shots with 39 (only behind Brendan Gallagher and Tyler Toffoli) and he’s tied for second on the roster when it comes to rebounds created according to Natural Stat Trick. 

With each passing series, Caufield has looked more and more comfortable among the Canadians top nine forwards. He’ll be one of the biggest names to keep an eye on when the puck drops in his first trip to the Stanley Cup Final.