Morning Flurries: the Stanley Cup Final is set

The Stanley Cup Final is set with the Tampa Bay Lightning from the East taking on the Montreal Canadiens, also technically from the East, but they won the Western Conference Finals trophy. The Lightning are the the reigning Stanley Cup Champions, while the Canadiens finished 18th in the league.

The series starts on Monday, June 28th, Game 4 is on July 5th, and Game 7 is Sunday July 11th

Though it may sound unlikely, the two Atlantic rivals hate each other. In 2014, the Habs swept the Bolts in Round 1, and then in 2015, the Bolts beat the Habs in six in the Eastern Conference Final on their way to the Finals against Chicago. The 2004 Lightning also beat the Habs in the second round en route to their first Championship.

Personally, I don’t think this should be a long season. The Lightning arguably have the better goalie, better defense, and substantially better offense. That said, Nikita Kucherov potentially injured his ribs in Game 6 against the Islanders thanks to a Scott Mayfield hit, he played in Game 7 but his status will always be tenuous. But the Habs have been able to obstruct their way to victory so far, and there’s no reason for that to stop now.