Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Vegas Golden Knights Prediction, NHL Odds
Two of the top teams in their respective conferences will go head-to-head Tuesday night as the Tampa Bay Lightning travel to Vegas to face the Golden Knights. Tampa has been off since Thursday’s 2-1 shootout win against the Senators, while Vegas is riding a five-game win streak, including a four-game sweep of their recent Eastern Conference road swing.
The Golden Knights are -130 favourites to win on the NHL odds, with a total of 5.5.
Lightning vs. Golden Knights NHL Betting Odds
There’s not much history between these teams as they’ve only met six times since Vegas joined the league in 2017. The Golden Knights won four of those meetings, while the Over/Under split evenly. The Lighting are receiving about a 70/30 split in their favour from Sports Interaction bettors, while the Over is heavily favoured by more than 90 per cent of bettors.
Tampa is coming into this game hot, with wins in seven of their last eight games overall and four of their last five on the road. They’re 13-16 against the spread this season, covering in half of their 14 road games. The total has gone Under in four of the Lightning’s last five games.
Vegas has been just as good as Tampa lately, riding a five-game win streak and winning eight of their last nine. They haven’t been a great cover option, however, as they’re 12-19 ATS overall and 4-12 ATS at home. The total has gone Over in five of the Golden Knights’ last seven games.
Tampa Bay Lightning
After being blanked by the Senators through the first two period on Thursday, the Lighting finally broke through in the third with goals from Alex Killorn and Victor Hedman proving to be enough to get the win. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 25 of 26 shots faced. There was a bit of history made in the game as Vasilevskiy broke the NHL record for wins in a calendar year with his 63rd win in 2021 regular season and playoff games. Steven Stamkos picked up an assist on the Hedman goal to became just the second player in franchise history to record 900 career points, behind Martin St. Louis (953). Stamkos is having a resurgent year and leads the team in both points (34) and goals (13).
Vasilevskiy will get the start again on Tuesday. Last year’s Conn Smythe winner is 16-4-3 this season, with a 2.10 goals-against average and .928 save percentage. Tampa will continue to be without forwards Nikita Kucherov (lower-body) and Brayden Point (upper-body). Kucherov has missed 26 games, but he has returned to practice and could be back in the lineup in a few weeks. Point has not played since Nov. 20, but he has also returned to practice and could be back by the end of December.
Vegas Golden Knights
Vegas’ win in Long Island on Sunday capped off a perfect 4-0 Eastern Conference road trip. Jonathan Marchessault opened the scoring in the first period, while Shea Theodore’s two third period goals helped send the game to overtime. Theodore scored again in the shootout to seal the win. Ilya Sorokin stopped 31 of 34 shots in regulation/overtime and didn’t allow a goal in the shootout. Chandler Stephenson picked up an assist on the first Theodore goal and now leads the Golden Knights with 30 points (9G, 21A).
Robin Lehner will get the start in net against Tampa. Lehner’s numbers have dipped a bit this season and he’s allowed at least three goals in four of his last five starts. He has gone 14-9-0 on the year, with a 3.03 GAA and .905 SV. Mark Stone is reportedly a game-time decision after missing Sunday’s game with an upper-body injury. Vegas’ captain has put up 21 points (4G, 17A) in 18 games.
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