Quite possibly the two strongest clubs in the National Hockey League, the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Tampa Bay Lightning face off at Amalie Arena. AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh will showcase this Eastern Conference matchup, and the puck drops at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday, February 6.
Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Tampa Bay Lightning Odds
Pittsburgh (+145) is playing the role of underdog to Tampa Bay (-165), and the Over/Under (O/U) is set at 7 goals (-135 to bet the over, +115 for the under). Odds Courtesy of DraftKings NJ’s #1 Online Sportsbook.
Earning 0.7 units for moneyline bettors, the Lightning are 33-20 straight up (SU) overall this year. That winning percentage, ranked third in the NHL in this young season, is a regression from the 62-20 record that the team posted during the 2018-19 season campaign. Among its 53 games this season, 28 have gone over the total, while 22 have gone under and just three have pushed. This year, the team’s 16-9 SU at home.
Tampa Bay has converted on 25.0 percent of its power play opportunities this season, a figure that places them in the top-5 among NHL teams. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked fourth overall, and it’s successfully killed off 84.0 percent of all penalties.
As a collective unit, Tampa Bay has been called for penalties 3.9 times per game overall this season, and 3.2 per game over its last five home outings. The team has been forced to kill penalties for just 6.9 minutes per game over its last 10 outings, in total.
Boasting a .917 save percentage and 28.2 saves per game, Andrei Vasilevskiy (27-12-3) has been the primary goalkeeper for the Lightning this season. If they decide to give him the evening off, however, head coach Jon Cooper may turn to Curtis McElhinney (6-8-8 record, .909 save percentage, 2.88 goals against average).
The Bolts will continue to look for offensive production from Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos. Kucherov (63 points) has tallied 24 goals and 39 assists and has recorded multiple points in 18 different games this year. Stamkos has 24 goals and 33 assists to his credit and has recorded a point in 34 games.
On the other side of the rink, Pittsburgh is 33-19 straight up (SU) and has earned moneyline bettors 9.6 units this year. Through 52 regular season outings, 26 of its games have gone over the total, while 25 have gone under the total and just one has pushed. As the visiting team this season, Pittsburgh is 14-11 SU.
Pittsburgh has converted on 19.9 percent of its power play opportunities this year, a figure that’s right around league average. On the other hand, its penalty kill unit is ranked ninth overall and it’s successfully killed off 82.1 percent of all opponent power plays.
Pittsburgh’s players have been penalized only 3.3 times per game this season, and 4.8 per game over their last five road outings. The team has been forced to defend opponent power plays just 7.9 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
Tristan Jarry (.928 save percentage and 2.19 goals against average) has been the primary option in goal for Pittsburgh. Jarry is averaging 27.2 saves per game and has 17 wins, nine losses, and one overtime loss to his credit.
Evgeni Malkin (16 goals, 38 assists) has been one of the primary playmaking threats for the visiting Penguins.
Pittsburgh Penguins at Tampa Bay Lightning Betting Predictions
NHL Pick: SU Winner – Lightning, O/U – Over
Betting Trends
The over has hit in three of Pittsburgh’s last five outings.
Pittsburgh’s attempted 32.2 shots per game overall this season (the second-most in the NHL), and 27.0 in its last 10 outings.
Penalties and power plays could have a key role in the outcome of this game. The Penguins are 16-8 in games where they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent and 22-14 when they’re in the penalty box for fewer than 10 minutes, total. The Lightning are 13-7 when they serve fewer penalty minutes than the opposition and 22-11 when they’re in the box for less than 10 minutes.
Tampa Bay is 2-0 in games decided by a shootout this season while Pittsburgh is 3-0 in shootouts.
Tampa Bay skaters have managed 7.6 takeaways per game over its last five home games, a slight drop from its season average of 6.9 takeaways per game (ranked 18th in the NHL).
Pittsburgh is ranked 18th overall with 7.5 takeaways per game. That figure has trended down, however, as the team has managed 6.3 takeaways over its last 10 games and 4.8 takeaways over its last five.
