The Detroit Red Wings will be looking to get a little revenge on Sunday when they take on the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Lightning defeated the Red Wings on Saturday, 2-1.
Here you can find the best picks, news, and stats for this Central Division battle at the Amalie Arena. Tampa Bay is the favorite at -480. This according to PointsBet Sportsbook, which puts the odds for Detroit at +370 as the underdog.
Goaltender Jonathan Bernier is out for Detroit. Right wings Sam Gagner and Bobby Ryan are listed as questionable. Tampa Bay lost defensemen Erik Cernak and Jan Rutta as both will be out indefinitely.
Red Wings Drop Third Straight
Detroit got a solid performance out of Thomas Greiss, but it was not enough to defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning. Greiss stopped 27 of 29 shots. Adam Erne had the only goal for Detroit.
Detroit is last in the NHL in goals per game at 2.13, connecting on 7.7% of their shots, also last. The power-play has not been very good either, averaging 11.6%, 29th overall. The Red Wings are led in scoring by Filip Hronek with 21 points. He also leads the team in assists with 19. Anthony Mantha and Robby Fabbri are tied for the team lead in goals with 10.
Detroit is allowing 3.18 goals per game, 25th overall. The penalty-killing unit is 27th in the NHL at 74.1%. With Bernier out and Greiss going on Saturday, it will be Calvin Pickard between the pipes on Sunday. He is to-1-0 with a 2.76 GAA and a .879 save percentage.
Vasilevskiy Continues to Shine
Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 25 of 26 shots to earn his NHL leading 23rd victory of the year. Brayden Point and Ross Colton each scored for Tampa Bay.
Tampa Bay is second in the NHL in goals per game at 3.46 and is second in shooting percentage at 11.4%. Not surprising, the team is second on the power-play at 26.9%. Victor Hedman is the team leader in points with 35. With the goal on Saturday, Point is tied with Steven Stamkos for the team lead in goals with 16. He is also tied for second on the team in points with 33.
Tampa Bay is allowing 2.36 goals per game, third overall. They are ninth on the penalty kill at 82.3%. It would not be surprising to see Vasilevskiy (1.96, .932) back in the net on Sunday, but it could be Curtis McElhinney (3.03, .882).
Trends:
Detroit:
- 2-5 in their last seven games.
- 7-44 in their last 51 games on the road.
Tampa Bay:
- 40-16 in their last 56 games.
- 4-1 in their last five games when playing on zero day’s rest.
The trends are all in the direction of Tampa Bay. They are 22-5 in the last 27 meetings against Detroit in Tampa Bay and are 36-17 in the last 53 meetings between these teams. Plus, the home team has won 21 of the last 29 meetings. After losing three straight games, Tampa Bay is back to playing exceptional hockey. The Lightning is 14-3-0 at home.
Pick: Take Tampa Bay at -480.
The Total:
No one should be surprised by Saturday’s 2-1 final. These teams have gone under in six of the last seven meetings in Tampa Bay. However, in the two contests played prior to Saturday’s game, the teams had gone over 5.5 goals in each of those contests, scoring 10 total goals back on March 11 and seven back on March 9. Saturday’s three-goal total was the first time these teams have gone under in their last five meetings.
Pick: Go over 5.5 at +105.