In their last head-to-head meeting of the regular season, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Nashville Predators clash at Bridgestone Arena. This East-West matchup gets going at 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday, December 3, and it will be showcased live on NBC Sports Network.
Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Nashville Predators Odds
Nashville enters the contest as the favorite with a moneyline of -120. The line for Tampa Bay is standing at +100, and the Over/Under (O/U) is set at 7 goals. If gamblers want to wager on this matchup’s total, they’ll be looking at odds of -115 for the over and -105 on the under.
The Predators are 12-14 straight-up (SU) and have punished moneyline bettors to the tune of -10.2 units so far. That early-season winning percentage is a regression from the 47-35 record that the team posted during last year’s regular season campaign. Through 26 regular season matches, 16 of the team’s games have gone over the total, while 10 have gone under and none have pushed. The team is 7-8 SU at home this year.
Nashville has converted on just 16.1 percent of its power play opportunities this year, a figure that’s ranked 24th overall in the NHL. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 27th overall, and it’s successfully killed off 75.3 percent of all penalties.
Nashville, as a collective unit, has been penalized 3.6 times per game overall this season, 3.2 per game over its last five matchups total, and 3.4 per game over its last five at home. The team has had to defend opposition power plays for just 7.1 minutes per game over its last 10 matchups, overall.
With a .898 save percentage and 22.9 saves per game, Pekka Rinne (9-6-2) has been the principal option in goal for the Predators this season. If they decide to give him the night off, however, head coach Peter Laviolette might turn to Juuse Saros (3-11-11 record, .891 save percentage, 3.12 goals against average).
Roman Josi and Matt Duchene will both be offensive focal points for the Predators. Josi (24 points) is up to seven goals and 17 assists and has recorded two or more points in six different games this year. Duchene has seven goals and 13 assists to his name and has recorded a point in 14 games.
Tampa Bay has lost 7.3 units for bettors taking the moneyline thus far and is currently 12-12 straight up (SU). Through 24 regular season matches, 15 of its games have gone over the total, while nine have gone under the total and none have pushed. Tampa Bay’s 6-7 SU as the road team this season.
Tampa Bay has converted on 30.0 percent of its power play opportunities this season, a figure that places it in the top-five among NHL teams. On the other hand, its penalty kill unit is ranked 21st overall and it’s successfully defended 78.3 percent of all opponent power plays.
Tampa Bay’s skaters have been called for penalties 4.3 times per game in total this season, and 3.4 per game over their last five on the road. The team’s had to defend opponent power plays just 7.8 minutes per game over their last five road outings.
Andrei Vasilevskiy (28.4 saves per game) has been the primary option in goal for Tampa Bay. Vasilevskiy owns a 9-8-1 record, while registering a .906 save percentage and 2.96 goals against average this year.
For the visiting Lightning, the offense will be facilitated by Nikita Kucherov (nine goals, 19 assists) and Victor Hedman (four goals, 18 assists).
Tampa Bay Lightning at Nashville Predators Free Picks
Prediction: SU Winner – Lightning, O/U – Over
Betting Trends
- The over has hit in four of Tampa Bay’s last five games.
- Tampa Bay has managed 30.4 shot attempts per game over its last five road games while Nashville has been attempting 40.2 shots per game over its last five at home.
- Over Tampa Bay’s last ten games, six of them have been decided by two or more goals (the team is 5-1 in those games).
- Tampa Bay skaters have dished out the league’s eighth-most hits per game (23.9).
