Mathew Barzal, Brock Nelson, and the New York Islanders will do battle against Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos, and the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena in an Eastern Conference tilt. Fox Sports Sun will air the matchup, and the puck drops at 7 p.m. ET on Saturday, February 8.
New York Islanders vs. Tampa Bay Lightning Odds
Playing the role of favorites will be the Lightning (-220), while the Islanders are dogs offering moneyline odds of +180,, and the Over/Under (O/U) is placed at 6 goals (-115 for the over, -105 for the under) at PointsBet Sportsbook.
Tampa Bay is 34-20 straight up (SU) and has netted moneyline bettors 1.7 units this year. That winning percentage, ranked second in the league in this young season, is a regression from the 62-20 record that the team posted during the 2018-19 season campaign. Of the team’s 54 games this season, 28 have gone over the total, while 23 have gone under and just three have pushed. This season, the team is 17-9 SU at home.
The Lightning have connected on 24.4 percent of their power play opportunities this season, a figure that’s good enough for sixth-best in the NHL. On the other hand, their penalty kill is ranked third overall, and they’ve successfully killed off 84.5 percent of all penalties.
Sporting a .918 save percentage and 28.2 saves per game, Andrei Vasilevskiy (28-12-3) has been the principal option in goal for Tampa Bay this year. If the Bolts choose to give him the night off, however, Tampa Bay might turn to Curtis McElhinney (6-8-8 record, .909 save percentage, 2.88 goals against average).
New York has netted 6.3 units for moneyline bettors this year and is currently 31-21 straight up (SU). Through 52 regular season matches, 27 of its games have gone under the total, while 22 have gone over and just three have pushed. As the visiting team, the Islanders are 14-10 SU so far.
The Islanders have converted on 19.0 percent of their power play chances this season, a mark that’s right around league average. On the other hand, its penalty kill unit is ranked 19th overall and it’s successfully killed off 79.3 percent of all penalties.
Semyon Varlamov (25.8 saves per game) has been the main choice in the net for New York. Varlamov owns a 17-15-4 record, while registering a .915 save percentage and 2.60 goals against average this year.
New York Islanders at Tampa Bay Lightning Betting Predictions
Prediction: SU Winner – Lightning, O/U – Under
Betting Trends
The Islanders (3-2 in shootouts this season) has more experience in games decided by shootout. The Lightningis undefeated in two shootouts this year.
Over Tampa Bay’s last ten outings, six of them have been decided by two or more goals (the team is 5-1 in those games).
This game features two of the more physical defenses in the league. New York skaters have dished out the second-most hits in the league (28.8 per game) while the Bolts have registered the 10th-most (22.9).