Wednesday NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs: Thiessen picks Montreal Canadiens at Tampa Bay Lightning, Lightning up 1-0

Can Montreal make this a series, or will Tampa Bay be too strong for the Canadiens?

We are only in Game 2 of the 2021 NHL Stanley Cup Finals, but this already feels like a must-win for the visiting Montreal Canadiens.

Tampa Bay already looks like it is preparing for another championship parade, and the Lightning might be hosting that sooner rather than later, if Monday night was anything to go on for the coming games.

Montreal cannot worry about the Game 1 loss now: it solely has to be focused on finding a win tonight, in any way possible, to make this a long series. A win for Tampa tonight would see the Lightning head north with a 2-0 lead, which could be too much to overcome.

That is what I see, though, tonight: a Tampa Bay win.

Check Fubo.TV for schedules

NHL STANLEY CUP FINALS GAME 1

Montreal (+170) at Tampa Bay (-210), 8 p.m. EDT (NBCSN and Fubo.TV)

THE PICKS:

Tampa Bay three-way ML (-120)

Tampa Bay over 3 goals (+105)

CORRECT SCORE BET:

Tampa Bay 3-2