Canadian Tire Centre will be hosting an enticing matchup as the Ottawa Senators take on the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning. Fox Sports Sun will showcase this divisional matchup, which gets going at 7 p.m. ET on Saturday, January 4.
Tampa Bay Lightning at Ottawa Senators Odds
Tampa Bay (-210) is favored over Ottawa (+175) and the Over/Under (O/U) is set at 7 goals (-120 over, +100 under).
Tampa Bay is 22-17 straight up (SU) and has lost 5.5 units for moneyline bettors thus far. 23 of its matches have gone over the total, while 15 have gone under and just one has pushed. The Bolts are 10-8 SU on the road in 2019-20.
Tampa Bay enters the match up with the second-strongest power-play unit in the NHL, as it’s found the net on 29.5 percent of its extra-man advantages this season. Additionally, its penalty kill is ranked 13th overall, and it’s successfully killed off 81.6 percent of its penalties.
Tampa Bay, as a collective unit, has been called for penalties 4.0 times per game overall in the 2019-20 season, 4.0 per game over its last five outings total, and 4.6 per game over its last five road outings. The team’s had to defend opponent power plays just 7.9 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
With a .909 save percentage and 28.3 saves per game, Andrei Vasilevskiy (18-11-2) has been the top option in goal for Tampa Bay this season. If head coach Jon Cooper decides to rest him, however, Tampa Bay may turn to Curtis McElhinney (4-6-2), who has a .905 save percentage and 3.21 goals against average this year.
Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos will both lead the offensive attack for the visiting Lightning. Kucherov (42 points) has tallied 14 goals and 28 assists, and has recorded two or more points 10 times. Stamkos has 15 goals and 22 assists to his credit (and has logged a point in 23 games).
Ottawa is 16-25 straight up (SU) and has lost 4.0 units for moneyline bettors thus far. 23 of its matches have gone over the total, while 18 have gone under and none have pushed. It’s 11-8 SU as the home team this season.
Ottawa has converted on just 11.0 percent of its power play opportunities this year, a figure that places it in the bottom overall among NHL teams. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 17th overall, and it’s successfully killed off 80.8 percent of all opponent power plays.
The Senators have been penalized 4.1 times per game this season, 4.2 per game over their last five contests total, and 3.6 per game over their last five home outings. The team has been forced to stave off opponent power plays just 7.8 minutes per contest over their last five home games.
Anders Nilsson (28.5 saves per game) has been the top netminder in the crease for Ottawa. Nilsson has nine wins, 11 losses, and two OT losses to his name and has registered a subpar .908 save percentage and 3.18 goals against average this year.
The home team will be led on offense by Anthony Duclair (21 goals, 11 assists).
Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Ottawa Senators Betting Picks
NHL Pick: SU Winner – Senators, O/U – Over
Betting Notes
- For both of these teams, the over has hit in four of their past five matchups.
- Ottawa has allowed 3.4 goals per game overall this year, but is giving up 5.0 goals per matchup in its last three contests (the team is 0-3 SU over that stretch).
- Over Ottawa’s last ten outings, four of them have been decided by two or more goals (the team is 1-3 in those games).
- This game features two of the tougher teams in the league. Tampa Bay skaters have accounted for the ninth-most hits in the league (23.3 per game) while the Senators have tallied the third-most (27.5).
