Brayden Point ruled out for Game 3 vs. Avalanche

Tampa Bay Lightning C Brayden Point is not taking warmups prior to Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final vs. the Colorado Avalanche. Point will miss Game 3 after returning to the lineup for the first two games of the series. The Bolts are down 2-0 in the best-of-7 series after losing both games in Denver.

It’s clear Point wasn’t 100% healthy upon returning to the lineup a few games ago. He missed most of Game 7 of the first round vs. the Maple Leafs and the second and third rounds due to a lower-body injury. Point was considered day-to-day. With Point out, Riley Nash will enter the lineup for Tampa Bay.

This kind of is the last stand for the Lightning so to speak. Tampa Bay can’t go down 3-0 and expect to come back and win a third Cup that way. The response has to come without Point on Monday night in Game 3. This would be a spot we maybe look at the under at 6.0 goals. The Avs got there themselves in Game 2 in a 7-0 win. I’d be very surprised to see that again. We should see a tighter game and better performance from G Andrei Vasilevskiy, who was hung out to dry in Game 2, allowing all seven goals while playing the entire game.

The Bolts are favored on the ML at -120, which isn’t what we’d be betting with no Point. I’m not crazy about the ML bet. See how things go in-game. Colorado looked too deadly in Game 2. The Lightning being at home in a must-win game, you’d figure Tampa Bay takes care of business or at least it’s a close game like Game 1.

Vasilevskiy’s saves prop is odd. It’s high at 32.5 saves at +100. The under is -125. This has to be a big game from Vasilevskiy and he should still see a ton of shots. He’s seeing 34 per game so far in this series. If he stands on his head, he should get to the over.