The game of the week in the NHL is clearly this matchup between Boston and Tampa Bay as they battle for the Atlantic Division title and potentially the most points in the league. The Lightning are favored on the Mybookie NHL odds for the Bruins vs Lightning.
Bruins vs Lightning NHL Hockey Odds & TV Info
- When: Tuesday, 7:30 PM ET
- Where: Amalie Arena
- TV: NBC Sports Network
- Opening NHL Lines: Lightning -130, Bruins +120 (total 6)
A big Atlantic tilt. ⚡️#BOSvsTBL: https://t.co/JTC4L1wZEW pic.twitter.com/S7tZbUAbKf
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) March 3, 2020
Bruins vs Lightning Season Series
Tampa leads 2-0. They last played Dec. 12 in Tampa and the Lightning prevailed 3-2. Steven Stamkos had two goals. The Bolts also got a goal from Brayden Point, who put Tampa Bay ahead 2-1 on a power play 4:07 into the third from the slot. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 27 saves for the win. Patrice Bergeron and John Moore scored for the Bruins. Tuukka Rask stopped 28 shots. Boston’s Zdeno Chara and Tampa Bay’s Pat Maroon fought 27 seconds into the game.
Why Bet on Boston?
The Boston Bruins possess the NHL’s best record and look to be in the running for their first Presidents’ Trophy since 2014. Coach Bruce Cassidy has said certain players could start to see a decrease in time on ice, or even watch a game or two from above the ice just to keep them fresh for the playoffs.
Boston has followed a two-game skid with back-to-back wins. It prevailed 4-0 at the Islanders on Saturday. The league-best Bruins improved to 41-13-12 for 94 points. They are 7-2-0 in their last nine road games overall this season.
David Pastrnak scored his NHL-best 47th goal to open the scoring on Saturday. Pastrnak was named the third star of the month for February. Pastrnak had 10 goals and nine assists in 14 games last month. He accounted for seven multi-point efforts during that 14-game span. He also leads the league in power play goals (19) and ranks second in the league in points (91) through 66 games this season.
Charlie McAvoy scored a goal and registered two assists. McAvoy accounted for 13 points in 14 games during February. McAvoy scored his first four goals of the season, while adding four assists and a plus-13 rating. He tied Vancouver’s Quinn Hughes for the most points among all blueliners during that span. For the season McAvoy has 30 points in 63 games. The surge came after the blue liner went the first 51 contests of the year without a goal.
Tuukka Rask stopped 25 shots in the win. Rask rebounded after surrendering a combined 10 goals in his previous two starts. It was his fourth shutout of the year. He has a 24-7-6 record, 2.16 GAA, and .928 save percentage in 38 games in 2019-20. Rask will start this game.
Team Stats
Offense- Goals: 3.3
- Shots: 32.03
- PP/PK Percentage: 25.47
- Goals: 2.53
- Shots: 30.12
- PP/PK Percentage: 16.02
Why Bet on Tampa Bay?
The Bolts snapped a four-game slide with a 4-3 home win over Calgary on Saturday. The victory came soon after the Tampa Bay Lightning announced team captain Steven Stamkos will undergo surgery (he had it Monday) for a core muscle injury and was expected to miss the rest of the regular season and potentially the first round of the playoffs.
Recovery and rehabilitation are anticipated to last approximately six to eight weeks. Tampa Bay is second in the Atlantic Division and the playoffs are scheduled to begin the week of April 6. He has 29 goals and 66 points in 57 contests this season.
“In the end, this is what was best for him,” Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. “It’s just tough the timing for him because so close to the end of the season but if it wasn’t required, if it wasn’t the best thing for him, we wouldn’t be doing it.”
Ondrej Palat has been skating alongside Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point in place of Stamkos. Tyler Johnson played on Tampa Bay’s top power-play unit on Saturday. He took the spot of Stamkos and scored a power-play goal in the victory over the Flames.
Alex Killorn scored the game-winning goal vs. Calgary. Kucherov assisted on two of Tampa Bay’s four goals. Kucherov has 31 goals and 80 points in 63 contests this season. Kucherov extended his personal point streak to seven games.
Andrei Vasilevskiy saved 18 of 21 shots. Vasilevskiy surrendered two goals on nine shots in the second period. He has now allowed at least three goals in five straight starts.
Team Stats
Offense- Goals: 3.54
- Shots: 31.35
- PP/PK Percentage: 23.12
- Goals: 2.82
- Shots: 30.69
- PP/PK Percentage: 18.22
Bruins vs Lightning Game Trends
- Bruins are 0-5 in the last 5 meetings in Tampa Bay.
- Bruins are 0-4 in the last 4 meetings.
- Favorite is 5-2 in the last 7 meetings.
- Home team is 5-2 in the last 7 meetings.
- Under is 3-1-1 in the last 5 meetings in Tampa Bay.
Bruins vs Lightning Expert Prediction
Lightning 5, Bruins 4
Zach LaVine (sore left quad) has been downgraded from probable to doubtful
