Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos, and the Tampa Bay Lightning will do battle against Auston Matthews, Mitchell Marner, and the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena for an Atlantic Division tilt. The match will get going at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday, March 10, and it will be shown live on Fox Sports Sun.
Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Toronto Maple Leafs Odds
Playing the role of favorites will be the Lightning (-115), whereas the Maple Leafs are dogs showing moneyline odds of -105,, and sportsbooks have put the Over/Under (O/U) at 7 goals (-115 for the over, -105 for the under).
Tampa Bay is 43-26 straight up (SU) and has netted moneyline bettors 0.1 units this season. Through 69 regular season contests, 36 of its games have gone over the total, while 29 have gone under and just four have pushed. The Bolts are 21-14 SU on the road in 2019-20.
Tampa Bay has converted on 23.6 percent of its power play opportunities this season, a figure that’s good enough for sixth-best in the league. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 11th overall, and it has successfully killed off 81.9 percent of its penalties..
Boasting a .917 save percentage and 28.2 saves per game, Andrei Vasilevskiy (35-16-3) has been the top option in goal for Tampa Bay this year. If Tampa Bay decides to rest him, however, head coach Jon Cooper may turn to Curtis McElhinney (8-10-3 record, .906 save percentage, 2.89 goals against average).
On the other bench, Toronto is 35-34 straight up (SU) and has lost 12.6 units for moneyline bettors this year. Through 69 regular season contests, 38 of its games have gone over the total, while 28 have gone under and just three have pushed. It’s 17-16 SU at home this season.
The Maple Leafs have converted on 22.4 percent of their power play chances this season, a mark that places it in the top-10 among NHL teams. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 22nd overall, and it’s successfully killed off 77.2 percent of all penalties.
Frederik Andersen (27.5 saves per game) has been the top selection in goal for the Maple Leafs. Andersen has 28 wins, 23 losses, and seven OT losses to his credit and has recorded a pedestrian 2.89 goals against average and a subpar .908 save percentage this season.
Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Toronto Maple Leafs Free Picks
NHL Prediction: SU Winner โ Maple Leafs, O/U โ Over
Betting Trends
The Lightning are 15-7 when they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent and 25-14 in games where they’re in the box for fewer than 10 total penalty minutes.
Tampa Bay is 2-1 in games decided by a shootout this season while Toronto is 1-5 in shootouts.
Tampa Bay might hold the upper hand if it’s a tight one late. The team’s 18-14 in one-goal games, while Toronto is only 9-15 in such games.
One of the best at stickhandling and crisp passes, Tampa Bay is ranked second this season with just 7.3 giveaways per game. That figure’s trended down, however, as the team’s averaged 5.0 giveaways over its last 10 games and 4.4 giveaways over its last five.
Toronto has averaged 16.4 giveaways over its last five home games, a rise over its season average of 11.7 giveaways per game (ranked 24th in the league).
Tampa Bay skaters have accounted for the league’s eighth-most hits per game (23.9).