Florida Panthers vs. Tampa Bay Lightning Prediction, NHL Odds
Tampa looks to bounce back on home ice after their most embarrassing loss of the season on Tuesday in Nashville.
Panthers vs. Lightning 4/15/21 Betting Analysis
The Lightning are the -165 favorites as they return home to host the Florida Panthers, after an embarrassing 7-2 loss in Nashville. The season series is deadlocked at two games apiece, with four games still to play, as they head to Tampa Bay for a two-game set. Tampa is 15-4 on home ice this year as they begin a six-game homestand.
The over/under is set at 6 for tonight because the battle of Florida has been high scoring so far. They have played the over in all four games with their lowest total being seven. Both teams have been on different trends lately as Tampa played the over in four of their past five, while the Panthers have only done it twice in their past nine.
Florida Panthers
The Panthers ended a three-game skid on Frank Vatrano’s overtime goal on Tuesday night in Dallas. Florida’s offence has mustered up only six goals over the past four games and Aleksander Barkov scored three of them. Barkov was the only one to score for them through three and a half games until Radko Gudas scored in the second period of Tuesday’s game.
Jonathan Huberdeau, the second highest scorer on the team, has no goals yet this month and only two points through seven games since the calendar flipped. Huberdeau needs to be better, especially since the Carter Verhaeghe injury. Verhaeghe is considered week-to-week right now with an upper body injury, he is third in points with a career-high 35 points.
Tampa Bay Lightning
The Lightning were on a two-game win streak until the Predators handed them their biggest loss of the season on Tuesday night. Curtis McElhinney gave up seven goals on 22 shots as the Lightning’s backup goalie continues to let them down. Luckily for them, Andrei Vasilevskiy will get the start tonight. Deadline acquisition David Savard made his debut although he probably wished he hadn’t, as he was a minus-four after 60 minutes.
Captain Steven Stamkos will miss his third game in a row with an undisclosed injury. Stamkos is tied for the team lead in goals with 17 and will be out until the weekend according to coach Jon Cooper. Centreman Yanni Gourde has stepped up during his absence scoring goals in back-to-back games, he’s picked up six points in the last three games putting him at 30 points on the year.
FLA
TB