Ottawa Senators vs. Tampa Bay Lightning: NHL Odds, Prediction
Thursday is the first look of the season for Ottawa at the Tampa Bay Lightning, the team with the most points in the NHL and the +500 Stanley Cup favourites.
Senators vs. Lightning Betting Analysis
As noted, it’s the first meeting of the season between the teams. The Sens will host the Lightning on Jan. 6 and Feb. 22 and go back to Tampa on March 13. Last year, Ottawa was 1-3 against Tampa Bay and only one game was decided by less than three goals: a 2-1 Sens home loss in overtime on March 14. The 2016-17 Lightning team wasn’t as close to as good as the current version.
Erik Karlsson led the Senators with four points vs. the Lightning last year, all assists. Mark Stone and Kyle Turris (now with Nashville) both had two goals. Mike Condon was 1-1-1 with a 2.93 goals-against average and .902 save percentage. Craig Anderson lost his lone start, allowing four goals.
Nikita Kucherov led the Lightning with six points vs. Ottawa. Brayden Point had three goals and a helper and was a team-best plus-5. Andrei Vasilevskiy started all four games and had a 1.73 GAA and .946 SV. Ottawa is 1-4 in its past five trips to Tampa Bay.
Ottawa Senators
The Senators (11-14-7) had their first two-game winning streak in a month snapped Tuesday in a 6-4 home loss to Minnesota. It was tied 3-3 entering the third (Sens led 3-1 at one point), but the Wild scored the first three of the period. Karlsson had his first two-goal game of the season in the loss. Ottawa was 2-for-4 on the power play – it still ranks 27th in the NHL at 16.1 per cent with the man advantage — and had four players with multiple points: Karlsson, Derick Brassard, Mike Hoffman, and Stone, with the latter now scoring at least one point in four straight games. Stone hasn’t had a goal since Nov. 29, however. Anderson had 34 saves in his third straight start, so it could be Condon’s turn on Thursday.
Tampa Bay Lightning
It took the Lightning (24-7-2) just 32 games to become the first team to 50 points, and they lead the league in scoring (3.8 goals per game), on the power play (28.1 per cent) and in goal differential (plus-42). They also have two Hart Trophy candidates and the league’s two leading scorers in Kucherov (48 points) and Steven Stamkos (45). Kucherov is also tied for first with 23 goals. Vasilevskiy leads the NHL in wins (21) and is third in GAA (2.18) and SV (.933).
But the Bolts aren’t unbeatable as their seven-game winning streak was snapped in a 4-3 loss at Vegas on Tuesday. The expansion Golden Knights won it on a power-play goal with 2.3 seconds to go. Stamkos had a power-play goal and leads the NHL with 21 power-play points. Second-line Lightning centre Tyler Johnson sat out with an illness.
