A game that features two squads that’ve positioned themselves firmly in playoff contention, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Vegas Golden Knights meet at T-Mobile Arena. This East-West matchup gets started at 10 p.m. ET on Thursday, February 20, and it can be watched live on AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain.
Tampa Bay Lightning at Vegas Golden Knights Odds
Tampa Bay (-125) is the favorite over Vegas (+105) and the Over/Under (O/U) has been set at 6 goals. The odds for betting the total stand at -115 for the over and -105 for the under.
Tampa Bay is 40-20 straight up (SU) and has netted moneyline bettors 7.8 units this year. 30 of its outings have gone over the total, while 27 have gone under and just three have pushed. As the road team this season, the Bolts are 20-11 SU.
Tampa Bay has converted on 23.1 percent of its power play opportunities this season, a mark that’s good enough for eighth-best in the NHL. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked seventh overall, and it has successfully killed off 83.4 percent of all penalties.
Tampa Bay, as a collective unit, has been penalized 4.0 times per game in the 2019-20 season, and 5.2 per game over its last five games. The team has had to kill penalties 9.2 minutes per contest over their last five road games.
Averaging 28.2 saves per game with a .921 save percentage, Andrei Vasilevskiy (32-12-3) has been the primary option in goal for Tampa Bay this year. If Tampa Bay chooses to rest him, however, they could turn to Curtis McElhinney (8-8-2 record, .911 save percentage, 2.76 goals against average).
Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos will both lead the way for the visiting Lightning. Kucherov has 73 points via 29 goals and 44 assists, and has recorded two or more points 23 times. Stamkos has 27 goals and 35 assists to his name (and has notched at least one point in 38 games).
Over on the other bench, Vegas is 31-30 straight up (SU) and has lost 14.5 units for moneyline bettors this year. Through 61 regular season outings, 30 of its games have gone over the total, while 27 have gone under and just four have pushed. It’s 17-14 SU at home this year.
Vegas has converted on 21.5 percent of its power play chances this year, a figure that places it in the top-10 among NHL teams. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 23rd overall, and it’s successfully killed off 78.1 percent of all penalties.
The Golden Knights have been penalized 3.8 times per game this season, and 3.0 per game over their last five home outings. The team has had to kill penalties just 8.2 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
Marc-Andre Fleury has stopped 26.2 shots per game as the primary selection in the crease for Vegas. Fleury has 23 wins, 20 losses, and five overtime losses to his credit and has maintained a poor .906 save percentage and 2.78 goals against average this season.
Mark Stone (20 goals, 37 assists) will lead the offensive attack for Vegas.
Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Vegas Golden Knights Betting Predictions
Prediction: SU Winner – Golden Knights, O/U – Over
Betting Notes
- For both of these teams, the under has hit in three of their past five outings.
- Tampa Bay has managed 30.4 shot attempts per game over its last five road games while Vegas is averaging 37.8 shots per game over its last five at home.
- The Lightning are 13-7 in games where they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent and 24-11 when they serve fewer than 10 total penalty minutes.
- Vegas (3-2 in shootouts) has more experience this season in games decided by shootout. Tampa Bay, however, has yet to lose a shootout this year (2-0).
- Vegas skaters have averaged 13.4 takeaways per game over its last five home games, an improvement over its season average of 9.7 takeaways per game (ranked 1st in the league).
- Tampa Bay has scored 3.5 goals per game (while giving up just 1.7) in their last 11 games (the team’s a perfect 11-0 SU during that streak)
- Tampa Bay is ranked 18th in the NHL with 7.1 takeaways per game. That figure has trended higher, as the team has managed 8.9 takeaways over its last 10 games and 9.0 takeaways over its last five.
