Calgary Flames vs. Tampa Bay Lightning Prediction, NHL Odds
Tampa Bay and Calgary have both come out of the 4 Nations Face-Off break strong. The Bolts outscored Seattle and Edmonton a combined 8-2, while the Flames knocked off San Jose and Washington.
Tampa is a -220 favourite to win on the NHL odds, with the total pegged at 6.0.
Flames vs. Lightning NHL Betting Odds
This wraps up the season series following the Lightning’s 8-3 win in Calgary in mid-December. That continued a trend that has seen the teams combine for six or more goals in four straight meetings.
The Flames have typically struggled in south Florida, dropping four of their last five games at Amerant Bank Arena. And to make you doubly wary of Calgary in this spot, keep in mind the Lightning are riding a six-game win streak and they’ve won five of their last six home dates.
Tampa Bay has been a slightly better cover option at 30-27 against the spread this season, including 16-13 ATS at home. Conversely, the Flames are 29-28 ATS, including 14-12 ATS on the road.
Calgary leans heavily toward lower scoring games, playing the Under 35 times. That makes sense given they average just 2.65 goals per game, good for 28th in the NHL. While the Lightning have split the Over/Under almost evenly overall, they’ve played the Under in eight of their last 10 games against Western Conference opponents.
Calgary Flames
Calgary is in an absolute dogfight to claim a playoff spot right now and every point matters in the standings. Heading into Wednesday nights games, the Flames hold down the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference, but they are only one point up on Vancouver while Utah and St. Louis are also lurking behind.
Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri share the team-lead with 43 points apiece, so they’ll obviously be key. Huberdeau, who also leads the team with 22 goals, has quietly been having a nice bounce-back season after scoring just 27 total goals in his first two seasons in Calgary.
There’s been no word on a starting goalie between Dustin Wolf and Dan Vladar. Wolf has been the hotter hand this season, posting a 20-11-3 record with a 2.62 goals-against average and .913 save percentage. Vladar is 8-10-5 with a 2.98 GAA and .891 SV.
Tampa Bay Lightning
The Lightning have been tough to crack at home in the new year, going 9-1-1 at Amalie Arena since Jan. 1. Their current six-game win streak has moved them to third in the Atlantic Division, but they’ll continue to push as they are only four points behind Toronto for first.
The usual suspects have been propelling Tampa Bay’s success this year. Nikita Kucherov is third in NHL scoring with 85 points, two shy of Nathan MacKinnon and Leon Draisaitl, while Brayden Point’s 31 goals is tied for fourth in the league.
Coming off a long break, you can expect the Lightning to ride Andrei Vasilevskiy for the next little bit. The 30-year-old Russian is having the second-best statistical season of his career, going 27-15-3 with a 2.26 GAA, .921 SV and three shutouts. Vasilevskiy ranks among the top-five goalies in almost every major statistic.
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