The Tampa Bay Lightning are hotter than the sun right now as they make their only visit of the season Thursday night to the Vegas Golden Knights. The Bolts are favored on the Mybookie NHL odds to win their 12th game in a row. Let’s see how the NHL betting odds will be for the Lightning vs Golden Nights.
Lightning vs Golden Knights 2020 NHL Game Preview & Betting Odds
- When: Thursday, 10 PM ET
- Where: T-Mobile Arena
- TV: NHL Center Ice, RSN
- Opening NHL Lines: Lightning -120, Knights +110 (total 6)
Lightning vs Golden Knights Last meeting
On Feb. 4, the Lightning beat the visiting Golden Knights 4-2. Steven Stamkos tipped in the game-winning goal at 10:36 of the third. Brayden Point and Anthony Cirelli also scored, and Nikita Kucherov had two assists. Alex Killorn added an empty net goal with 44.7 seconds remaining. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 28 saves. Stamkos was in front of Fleury when Point wheeled around from the high slot and sent a shot on net that Stamkos deflected just inside the right post at 10:36. Paul Stastny and William Carrier scored for Vegas. Marc-Andre Fleury finished with 13 saves.
Why Bet on Tampa Bay?
Red-hot Tampa Bay won its 11th in a row on Monday, 4-3 in overtime at a good Colorado team. That’s the longest winning streak in franchise history and longest in the NHL this season. The Bolts had won 10 in a row earlier this year. Tampa Bay is just the second NHL franchise to record a pair of double-digit winning streaks a single season, joining the Boston Bruins, who did it in 1929-30 and 1970-71.
Nikita Kucherov scored the OT game-winning goal Monday. It was Kucherov’s 29th goal of the year, and combined with his 44 assists he now has a season total of 73 points. He leads the Lightning in points, goals, and assists. Additionally, he is ninth in the league in both points and goals. Kucherov has at least one pinot in 14 straight games and he has posted 24 points in that time span.
Steven Stamkos scored his 27th goal of the year in the win. Stamkos gave the Lightning a 3-1 lead at the 13:43 mark of the second period. He has 62 points in 54 appearances this season. Brayden Point stretched his point streak to 11 consecutive games with an assist on Stamkos’ goal. Point has three goals and 12 helpers during that span. Point has registered 21 goals and 57 points in 57 contests this season.
Backup Curtis McElhinney was in net Monday but it should be Andrei Vasilevskiy for this one. He has gone 19-0-2 in his last 21 appearances, which includes an eight-game win streak. Vasilevskiy is the sixth different goaltender in NHL history to pick up at least one point in the standings in 21 or more consecutive appearances within a regular season.
Thursday could be the Lightning debut of winger Blake Coleman. He was acquired on Sunday from New Jersey and just didn’t have time to practice with his new team. The 28-year old had 21 goals and 31 points in 57 games with the Devils.
Team Stats
Offense- Goals: 3.58
- Shots: 31.35
- PP/PK Percentage: 23.08
- Goals: 2.65
- Shots: 30.83
- PP/PK Percentage: 16.58
Tampa Bay Lightning Betting Trends
- Lightning are 6-0 in their last 6 vs. Western Conference.
- Lightning are 13-3 in their last 16 vs. a team with a winning record.
- Lightning are 55-25 in their last 80 road games.
- Lightning are 35-16 in their last 51 vs. Pacific.
Why Bet on Vegas?
The Knights won their third in a row Monday, 3-2 at home vs. a good Washington team. The Golden Knights also improved to 7-3-2 since coach Pete DeBoer took over for Gerard Gallant, who was fired on Jan. 15. Under DeBoer, the Golden Knights came into the game ranked No. 1 in the NHL with 37.2 shots and 26.6 shots allowed per game, fourth with 102 takeaways and seventh with 3.45 goals per game.
Max Pacioretty scored his team-high 27th goal, and Nick Holden and Reilly Smith also scored for the Golden Knights. Pacioretty extended the Golden Knights’ lead to 3-0 at the 14:06 mark of the second period. The 31-year-old has scored six goals in his last six outings. He’s up to 56 points in 61 games this season.
Holden opened the scoring just 3:43 into the first period. He finished the night with a plus-2 rating and four shots on goal in 23:58 of ice time. The 32-year-old has five goals and five assists in 51 games this season. Smith has now scored in back-to-back games. He’s up to 23 goals and 23 assists in 61 games this season. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 24 of 26 shots. Fleury has now won back-to-back games for the first time since early January. He’s 23-14-5 this year.
Vegas made a trade on Wednesday, landing defenseman Alec Martinez from the division-rival Kings for a 2020 2nd round pick and a 2021 2nd round pick. Martinez will be on his second team in his 11-year NHL career. In 597 career games, Martinez has recorded 198 points (62 goals and 136 assists) averaging over 20 minutes of ice time. In 64 games this year with the Kings, he has recorded 16 points (six goals and 10 assists).
Team Stats
Offense- Goals: 3.15
- Shots: 34.51
- PP/PK Percentage: 21.51
- Goals: 3.03
- Shots: 29.74
- PP/PK Percentage: 21.87
Vegas Golden Knights Betting Trends
- Golden Knights are 8-2 in their last 10 games as a home underdog.
- Golden Knights are 4-1 in their last 5 Thursday games.
Lightning vs Golden Knights Expert Prediction
Lightning 4, Knights 3
