Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Vancouver Canucks: NHL Odds, Prediction
On Tuesday, the Canucks start a four-game road trip that begins in Miami. Two nights later, the Canucks go up Florida’s Gulf coast to Tampa. Incidentally, Vancouver-to-Miami is the longest possible trip in the NHL.
Lightning vs Canucks Betting Analysis
The Canucks were 2-0 against the Lightning last year, but Tampa Bay wasn’t near as good as this year’s edition. The first game was in Tampa and was a 5-1 result. Jayson Megna and Jack Skille each had two goals and Ryan Miller 38 saves – he left injured with about six minutes left. None of those three guys are with the Canucks these days. Ben Bishop, now with Dallas, allowed four goals on 20 shots before being pulled by the Lightning.
In last season’s game at Rogers Arena, the Canucks won 4-2 with Miller again in net. Bo Horvat had the go-ahead goal off a fluky bounce at 7:46 of the third, and Alex Burrows added an empty-netter. Andrei Vasilevskiy was in net for Tampa.
It should be noted that Lightning star Steven Stamkos missed both games last season as he played in only 17 due to injury. The Markham, Ontario, native is in the Hart Trophy conversation this year with 19 goals and 40 points, although teammate Nikita Kucherov is the favourite for that as he leads the NHL with 64 points. In 14 career games vs. Vancouver, Stamkos has eight goals and six assists and is plus-8.
The road team has won seven of the past 10 in this series. The total has gone over in four of the past five in Vancouver.
Tampa Bay Lightning
The All-Star break might have come at a good time for the Lightning (35-13-3) as it broke up a season-high eight-game road trip. This is No. 7, with it concluding Monday in Edmonton. Tampa Bay handed Calgary its sixth straight loss Thursday night, 7-4. Those were the second-most goals scored in a game this season for the league’s highest-scoring team. Tampa trailed 4-2 with about five minutes left in the second period but ran off five goals in a row.
Cory Conacher scored what would be the game-winner at 5:16 of the third. Alex Killorn was the No. 1 star with two goals and two assists. His line, which includes rookies Matthew Peca and Yanni Gourde, totaled nine points. Vasilevskiy, a Vezina Trophy candidate, stopped 42 shots. He has faced Vancouver three times in his career and is 1-1-0 with a 2.53 goals-against average and .893 save percentage.
Vancouver Canucks
Vancouver (21-24-6) has strung together back-to-back wins for only the second time since early-December. After beating the Avalanche 4-3 in overtime on Tuesday, the Canucks beat the Blackhawks 4-2 on Thursday. Brendan Gaunce was the No. 1 star in the latter game with two goals – which doubled the season total for the Sudbury, Ontario native.
Daniel Sedin had his 13th goal of the season and Horvat his 12th. Jacob Markstrom stopped 26 shots. Markstrom has played nine career games vs. the Lightning and is 3-3-2 with a 3.20 goals-against average and .889 save percentage. Henrik Sedin has two goals and eight assists against them in 18 games and Daniel has five goals and seven assists in 17.
