Edmonton Oilers vs. Tampa Bay Lightning Prediction, NHL Odds
The Edmonton Oilers will play the second half of a back-to-back on Thursday night in Tampa Bay, looking to shake a two-game skid versus the Lightning.
Edmonton is 2-3 on its current seven-game road trip after dropping its second in a row in Washington on Wednesday night versus the Capitals. Their opponent on Thursday is a Bolts team that has won seven of their past 10 games and is looking to climb back to the top of the Atlantic Division.
The NHL odds have the Lightning as the -160 favourites to win on Thursday, with the total sitting at an even six goals. Puck drop from the Benchmark International Arena is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.
Oilers vs. Lightning NHL Betting Odds
This will be the first of two meetings between the Oilers and the Lightning this season, facing off again on March 21. In their two-game series last year, they hit UNDER both times, and both teams managed a win on home ice. Getting on the board first will be huge for this matchup, as the Oilers have lost four in a row after giving up the first goal. Tampa tends to score in the first period, averaging 1.16 goals in the first 20 minutes, compared to Edmonton’s troubling 0.68.
Looking at the Oil’s road trip and their 2-3 record, they have shown no consistency, needing extra time in both of those wins. They are giving up way too many goals, averaging 3.14 goals against on the trip. They have played the OVER/UNDER 3-1-1, bumping their season total to 12-9-1. Edmonton is also 0-4 in the second game of a back-to-back this season and is expected to start backup Calvin Pickard on Thursday.
Tampa is in the middle of the pack both offensively (3.11 goals per game) and defensively (2.95 goals against per game), helping them to an 8-10-1 record on the OVER/UNDER. Currently sitting in fourth place in the Atlantic Division, trailing the first-place Detroit Red Wings by just three points, the NHL futures board still has them as the +150 favourite to win the division. The last time Tampa won the division was back in 2019, when they finished with the most points in the entire league.
Edmonton Oilers
The Oilers needed a good road trip to get them back in the playoff picture in the Western Conference, but things have gone off the rails in the past two games. After squeaking out wins in two of their first three on the trip, they went on to give up 12 goals in their last two games. The 5-1 loss in Buffalo to the 29th-place Sabres on Monday was tough, but taking a 7-4 pounding on Wednesday to the Washington Capitals was even more demoralizing.
The game started with back-to-back goals by the Caps, before the Oilers answered, and a pair of goals from Darnell Nurse took the game to 3-2 headed to the second. Washington potted another in the second, before Edmonton had some push back in the third. David Tomasek (2nd) and Leon Draisaitl (14th) scored to give them a chance to pull their goalie. The Capitals scored twice on the empty net to seal the victory, sending the Oilers off with a 9-9-4 record. Despite a disappointing start to the season, the NHL futures board still has the Oilers as the fifth-favourite to win the Stanley Cup at +1000. It is hard to count out a team with two future Hall of Famers on the roster, but their performance so far is worrying.
Tampa Bay Lightning
The Bolts got back in the win column Tuesday night, beating the New Jersey Devils 5-1 on home ice. Tampa’s star players did the heavy lifting in that game, with Jake Guentzel scoring his eighth career hat-trick, Nikita Kucherov putting together a two-point night (1G, 1A), and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopping 31 of 32 shots.
In his second season in Tampa, Jake Guentzel has been absolutely worth his big-ticket contract as he leads the team in goals (11) and points (20). He set a career high last season with 41 goals and is set to surpass that this season, with 11 goals through 19 contests.
After a subpar beginning to the campaign, Vasilevskiy has been great in November. He’s had above a .956 save percentage in three of his past four starts and gave up just one goal in his past two games. As the Bolts continue to trend upwards, expect his numbers to do the same.
Two of the three teams Tampa is chasing in the division are in action tonight, so a win could pull them into a tie for second place.
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