The Tampa Bay Lightning, fueled by Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos, are ready to take the ice against Eric Staal, Ryan Suter, and the Minnesota Wild at the Xcel Energy Center for an East-West showdown. NBC Sports Network will broadcast the game, and the action gets underway at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday, January 16.
Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Minnesota Wild Odds
The Lightning (-170) are currently favored over the Wild (+150), and oddsmakers have set the Over/Under (O/U) at 7 goals (-105 for the over, -115 for the under).
Tampa Bay is 28-18 straight up (SU) and has lost 1.4 units for bettors taking the moneyline this year. Through 46 regular season outings, 26 of its games have gone over the total, while 19 have gone under and just one has pushed. As a road team in 2019-20, the Bolts are 13-9 SU.
Tampa Bay has converted on 27.2 percent of its power play opportunities this season, a figure that’s good enough for fourth-best in the league. Its penalty kill is ranked sixth overall, and it’s successfully killed off 83.2 percent of its penalties..
Averaging 28.1 saves per game with a .916 save percentage, Andrei Vasilevskiy (23-11-2) has been the primary option in goal for Tampa Bay this year. If head coach Jon Cooper chooses to rest him, however, Tampa Bay could go with Curtis McElhinney (5-7-2 record, .904 save percentage, 3.10 goals against average).
On the other side of the rink, Minnesota is 20-26 straight up (SU) and has lost 5.9 units for moneyline bettors this year. Through 46 regular season outings, 22 of its games have gone over the total, while 20 have gone under and just four have pushed. It’s 11-9 SU as the home team this year.
The Wild have converted on just 17.9 percent of their power play opportunities this year, a mark that’s right around league average. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 27th overall, and it’s successfully killed off 75.7 percent of all penalties.
Devan Dubnyk (24.7 saves per game) has been the top choice in goal for the Wild. Dubnyk has eight wins, 15 losses, and two overtime losses and has registered a pedestrian 3.35 goals against average and a poor .892 save percentage this season.
Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Minnesota Wild Free Picks
Prediction: SU Winner – Wild, O/U – Over
Betting Notes
- Seven of Minnesota’s last ten outings have been decided by two or more goals, and the club is 2-5 overall in those games.
- The Lightning are 11-7 in games where they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent and 17-9 when they’re in the penalty box for fewer than 10 minutes, total.
- Tampa Bay is 2-0 in games decided by a shootout this season while Minnesota is 1-2 in shootouts.
- For both of these teams, the game went under the total in three of their past five outings.
- Tampa Bay skaters have averaged 7.8 giveaways over its last five home games, its season average of 7.5 giveaways per game (ranked second in the league).
- Minnesota skaters have averaged 4.6 giveaways over its last five home games, an improvement from its season average of 6.8 giveaways per game (ranked 2nd overall).
- Tampa Bay skaters have given out the 10th-most hits in the league (23.0 per game).
