NHL Stanley Cup Final 2020: Game 1 Odds and Stars vs. Lightning Predictions

The Tampa Bay Lightning and Dallas Stars will battle for the 2019-20 Stanley Cup after the Bolts defeated the New York Islanders 2-1 in overtime to complete a six-game Eastern Conference Final series win Thursday.

Dallas defeated the Vegas Golden Knights in five games to emerge victorious from the Western Conference Final. The Stars also clinched their conference with an overtime victory. Those teams will consequently face off for the Stanley Cup. Both franchises are looking for their second championships: Dallas won its first in 1998-99, and the Lightning did so in 2003-04.

The Cup series kicks off Saturday, with play beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta. Until then, here's a look at the Eastern and Western Conference Finals scores, as well as a Stanley Cup pick.

Eastern Conference Final Scores

Game 1: Lightning 8, Islanders 2

Game 2: Lightning 2, Islanders 1

Game 3: Islanders 5, Lightning 3

Game 4: Lightning 4, Islanders 1

Game 5: Islanders 2, Lightning 1 (2 OT)

Game 6: Lightning 2, Islanders 1 (OT)

Western Conference Final Scores

Game 1: Stars 1, Golden Knights 0

Game 2: Golden Knights 3, Stars 0

Game 3: Stars 3, Golden Knights 2 (OT)

Game 4: Stars 2, Golden Knights 1

Game 5: Stars 3, Golden Knights 2 (OT)

Stanley Cup Prediction

The Lightning are -182 favorites ($182 bet to profit $100) to win the Cup with DraftKings Sportsbook, implying a 64.5 percent chance to win it all. The Stars are +160 (wager $100 to win $160) underdogs.

It's tough to discount the Stars, however. For starters, goaltender Anton Khudobin has been on fire, allowing just eight goals to the Golden Knights in the Western Conference Final. He has a .920 save percentage in the playoffs and was the team's most valuable player against Vegas, posting a .950 save percentage in that series.

Dallas has also boasted tremendous depth in this year's playoffs, with seven players posting 11 or more points and five scoring five or more goals, led by Denis Gurianov and Joe Pavelski with nine each.

The question is whether that scoring depth can keep pace with a Lightning team that scored the NHL's most goals per game during the regular season.

Dallas struggled to find the net during the regular season, finishing 28th in the NHL in that statistic, but its defense and goaltending propelled the Stars to the playoffs en route to allowing the league's second-fewest goals per game.

That defense has struggled at times during the playoffs. Of note, the Colorado Avalanche scored 29 goals against them in a seven-game Western Conference semifinals loss. The Calgary Flames also scored three or more goals four times in their six-game first-round defeat.

The X-factor is whether the Stars have put those problems to bed after a phenomenal showing against a tough Vegas offense that featured seven skaters with 13 or more goals this season.

Stars defensemen Jamie Oleksiak (four goals, three assists) and Miro Heiskanen (five goals, 17 assists) have been rock-steady en route to leading the team in plus-minus at plus-five. They will get a stiff test in that regard against Tampa Bay. What's more the offense has to face goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, who has been near-invincible.

The Lightning have largely strolled through the competition since the resumption of play Aug. 1, going 14-5. Right wing Nikita Kucherov, center Brayden Point, defenseman Victor Hedman and Vasilevskiy have formed a core that will be difficult for the Stars to overcome in a seven-game series.

Kucherov leads all skaters in the playoffs with 26 points (six goals, 20 assists). Point and Hedman are tied for the goals lead at nine, with Hedman scoring all of his in his past 11 games. In net, Vasilevskiy has been a brick wall, saving 93.1 percent of the shots he's faced.

Despite its playoff failures over the past two seasons, Tampa has been the best team in hockey since 2017, winning 159 of a possible 234 regular-season games.

The talent has always been there for this team, but a tough seven-game Eastern Conference Final loss to the Washington Capitals and a stunning four-game sweep at the hands of the wild-card Columbus Blue Jackets sealed their fate in the past two years.

However, this Tampa Bay team has gamely met adversity head-on in this year's playoffs. The Lightning have been phenomenal in overtime games, winning five of six overall. That includes a five-overtime thriller against the Blue Jackets en route to their first-round series win in five games.

They are also 9-2 in one-goal games during the playoffs, so they have had no issue handling the playoff pressure and exorcising demons.

Another upset is possible. A Stars series win wouldn't be any more surprising than what the Blue Jackets did to Tampa Bay just last year. On paper, however, the Bolts have a better track record and more talent, and that should be enough for them to hoist their second Cup.

Series prediction: Tampa Bay 4, Dallas 2