Sorry, I’ve been away from the blog for so long… The real business go down tonight! The Stanley Cup Final Starts between the Lightning and Canadiens. After 868 regular-season games and 79 playoff contests, two teams remain. The first installment of the grand finale begins tonight at 8 p.m. ET

A goaltending showdown will take center stage as two Vezina Trophy winners are set to go head-to-head: Andrei Vasilevskiy and Carey Price.

Since the playoffs began, prognosticators have done a far better job of eliminating the Montreal Canadiens than their opponents have. Now that the Habs have reached the Stanley Cup final, their challenge will be to take it over the finish line. And that task will be enormous, far greater than any they have faced in the playoffs. NHL history is well-populated by underdogs and overachievers who have captured playoff magic and made it to the final, but history tells us those teams almost never actually win the Stanley Cup. Whether or not the Canadiens get slapped with a dose of reality in the final remains to be seen, but it would not be a surprise if this were a short and decisive win for the defending Stanley Cup champions.

It would also not be a surprise if the Canadiens made a real series of this. It’s clear the team that stumbled and bumbled its way through the regular season is not the one that’s been on display in the playoffs. The Tampa Bay Lightning, meanwhile, have come exactly as advertised before the season. They have methodically and meticulously picked apart their opponents and been dominant in doing so, regardless of the terms on which the games have been played. Via Ken Campbell 

Everyone likes predictions, I’m Canadian. It is always awesome when we have a shot that the Cup. However, I think Tampa Bay will be back-to-back Champs winning series in six.

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