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The Nashville Predators and the Pittsburgh Penguins are set to clash in this season’s Stanley Cup Finals and Game 1 of this best-of-seven tilt is scheduled for Monday night at PPG Paints Arena. The puck drops at 8 p.m. (ET) and the game will be available nationally on NBC.
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Nashville at Pittsburgh Game Overview<br />
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The Oddsmakers had the Predators slated for an early exit in this year’s playoffs as heavy underdogs on the series price against the top-seeded Chicago Blackhawks in the opening round. After stunning the betting world with a four-game sweep in that series, they come into the NHL Finals with a 12-4 record in the postseason after also eliminating St. Louis and Anaheim on their march to the Western Conference title. The total stayed UNDER or ended as a PUSH in 13 of those 16 games.
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Nashville closed out the Ducks in six games on May 22 so it is well rested for Monday’s opener. The loss of center Ryan Johansen to injury as the team’s top point scorer leaves a big hole on the offensive end of the ice, but fellow centers’ Filip Forsberg and Colton Sissons are ready to fill the void after combining for 13 goals in the postseason. The Predators’ chance to win their first ever Stanley Cup rests more on their defense and the play of Pekka Rinne in goal. He will start this series with a stellar 1.7 goals-against average through his first 16 playoff games.
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Pittsburgh opened the playoffs as one of the top favorites to win its second-straight NHL title and while it has not been an easy ride over the past few weeks, it will open this series as a -155 favorite on the series price odds to get it done. The Penguins made short work of Columbus in five games to open their run, but their next two series against Washington and Ottawa each went the distance including Thursday’s hard-fought 3-2 Game 7 victory against the Senators in double overtime as heavy -219 home favorites. The total has stayed UNDER or ended a PUSH in six of Pittsburgh’s last eight games.
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Led by Sidney Crosby as the team’s leading goal scorer this season with 44, Pittsburgh came into the playoffs as the highest scoring team in the NHL with an average of 3.4 goals per game. The Penguins have averaged 3.1 goals in 19 postseason games, but they have failed to score more than three goals in 11 of their last 12 games. At the other end of the ice, Pittsburgh’s head coach Mike Sullivan turned to Matt Murray in goal in place of Marc-Andre Fleury when his team went down two games to one against Ottawa and he responded with GAA of 1.35 over the next four games.
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Nashville at Pittsburgh Game Betting Trends<br />
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The Predators have lost four of their last five games against the Eastern Conference, but they are 20-8 in their last 28 games against a team with a winning record. The total has stayed UNDER or ended as a PUSH in 19 of their last 23 games against a winning team.
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The Penguins have won six of their last eight games in the Stanley Cup Finals, but they have lost four of their last five games following a win. The total has stayed UNDER or ended as a PUSH in 10 of their last 13 home games.
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Head-to-head in this matchup, Pittsburgh has an 8-2 edge in the last 10 meetings and it has won four of the last five matchups on its home ice. The total went OVER in both meetings in the regular season with the home team winning each contest.
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