The Colorado Avalanche are one game away from a Stanley Cup Final triumph. First, they need to defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning one more time.
Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Lightning and Avalanche is set for Friday night. Here are online sports betting insights about that series and Saturday MLB matchups between the Washington Nationals and Texas Rangers, as well as the Colorado Rockies and Minnesota Twins.
NHL
Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Colorado Avalanche
Friday, June 24 | TV: ABC | Time: 8 p.m. ET
The Avalanche have been utterly dominant up until this point. They’ve dropped only three contests through three playoff series and four games in the Stanley Cup Final.
Their NHL betting odds to win the series are -1400, and are a -1.5 favorite to win Game 5.
But it’s been fairly close against the Lightning. While Colorado won 7-0 during Game 2, Tampa Bay forced overtime in Games 1 and 4. The Avalanche managed to take 4-3 and 3-2 victories, respectively, in those matchups. Tampa Bay won the third clash, 6-2.
Cale Makar has the leading NHL odds to take the Conn Smythe Trophy at -550. The defenseman leads Colorado this postseason with 27 points and is tied for the lead with 20 assists.
He’s got seven goals for the postseason, including two during Game 2 against the Lightning. He also has three assists during the series, all of which have been in the last two contests.
Nathan MacKinnon has the second-best Conn Smythe Trophy odds at +550. He’s racked up 12 goals and nine assists during the postseason.
The Lightning shouldn’t totally be discounted, though. They’ve lost three games during the Stanley Cup Final, but they’ve proven they can compete with Colorado.
Ondrej Palat has scored two of his 10 postseason goals during the series and has 19 points for the playoffs. Nikita Kucherov is Tampa Bay’s playoff points leader with 26.
MLB
Washington Nationals vs. Texas Rangers
Saturday, June 25 | TV: FS1 | Time: 4:05 p.m. ET
Both the Washington Nationals and the Texas Rangers are dealing with losing records going into this matchup.
The Nationals were 25-47 as of Thursday, June 23. They were last in the NL East, 20.5 games behind the New York Mets. Washington’s World Series odds and odds to win the NL East were +100000.
Juan Soto was leading the Nationals with 14 home runs. The left fielder had 31 RBIs to go with a .214 batting average. Josh Bell had a .295 batting average for Washington, a team-best 44 RBIs, and 11 homers.
The Rangers have a little more postseason hope. They were 33-35, 10 games behind the Houston Astros in the AL West.
Their odds to win the World Series were +20000. Their division odds were +8000.
BIG HOMER FOR NATHANIEL LOWE!!!@Rangers | #StraightUpTX | 📺: BSSW pic.twitter.com/3dYzGQVlJW
— Bally Sports Southwest (@BallySportsSW) June 22, 2022
Nathaniel Lowe has been among Texas’ most consistent hitters. With a .274 average, he had recorded 28 RBIs and nine home runs.
Corey Seager was pacing the Rangers with 15 homers. Adolis Garcia had a team-best 45 RBIs.
Colorado Rockies vs. Minnesota Twins
Saturday, June 25 | TV: FOX | Time: 7:15 p.m. ET
The Minnesota Twins are eager to use this game in order to help them bounce back.
Going into Friday, they were 4-6 in their last 10 games. After being in control of the AL Central for most of the season, the Cleveland Guardians briefly took the lead thanks in part to a 8-2 run. The Twins beat the Guardians 1-0 on Thursday.
At 39-32, the Twins were still tied for fifth in the American League standings, 13 games behind the New York Yankees. Minnesota’s MLB World Series odds were +4000 with their odds of winning the AL Central at +150.
Luis Arraez was Minnesota’s leader at the plate. He had a .349 batting average with 25 RBIs.
Jorge Polanco and Byron Buxton were tied for the team lead with 33 RBIs. Buxton also had a team-best 19 homers.
Stuck in Buxton mode over the weekend. #MNTwins pic.twitter.com/RofhwedVng
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) April 25, 2022
The Rockies were last in the NL West at 30-40, 14 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers, after Thursday. Their MLB odds to win the World Series were +100000, as were their odds to take the division.
Jose Iglesias was leading the way for Colorado with a .303 batting average. CJ Cron paced the team with 17 homers and 52 RBIs.
Antonio Senzatela from the Rockies and Chris Archer from the Twins are set to take the mound.
Archer, who is 1-3, has a 3.44 ERA with 45 hits, 23 walks and eight home runs allowed to go with 40 strikeouts in 52 1/3 innings. Senzatela is 3-3 with an ERA of 4.42 and has surrendered 81 hits, 12 walks and four homers while striking out 27 in 53 innings.
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