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🏆 Playoffs
Last updated: April 15, 2025 6:15 PM EDT • 5 min read
These two fierce rivals are almost certainly destined to meet in the first round of the playoffs as the Tampa Bay Lightning welcome the Florida Panthers to Amalie Arena for tonight’s regular-season clash (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN+).
The Lightning have a slender chance of winning the Atlantic, while the Panthers know they will enter the postseason as the division’s third-place team.
Our Panthers vs. Lightning prediction, odds, and NHL picks expect the fresher Tampa Bay team to find the motivation to secure the win. 
Updated info via BetMGM.
📅 Date: Tuesday, April 15 
🕗 Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
📍 Location: Amalie Arena (Tampa, Fla.)
💻 Streaming: ESPN+
📈 For full team stats and betting line history, follow our Panthers vs. Lightning matchup page.
🎯 Score prediction: Lightning 3, Panthers 2
✅ Best bet: Under 5.5 goals (-102 via FanDuel)
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It’s the last time these two adversaries will see each other before almost certainly renewing hostilities in the first round. I gave the Lightning the edge for that prospective playoff series in the Stanley Cup odds and Round 1 matchups, and I feel the same about tonight’s game.
The Panthers are resigned to finishing third place in the division. While they will always battle fiercely against the Lightning, they don’t have any added motivation. It will be more about entering the playoffs without suffering any further setbacks. The Panthers lost at home to the New York Rangers 5-3 last night, ending any hope of surpassing the Lightning and securing home-ice advantage. 
They will be slightly fatigued, and Paul Maurice will err on the side of caution regarding personnel decisions. The Lightning will also be cautious but should have No. 1 goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy between the pipes. I expect Vítek Vanecek to play for the Panthers after Sergei Bobrovsky started against the Rangers. 
Vanecek is 2-3-1 with a .900 save percentage and a 2.66 goals-against average as a Panther. 
It should be a lower-scoring game, with both teams focusing on their defensive zone coverage with the playoffs mere days away. Seven of the previous eight Panthers’ games had five goals or fewer, while the last three with Vanecek in goal hit the Under.  
👉 Check out our guide on how to bet on the NHL.
✅ Against the spread pick: Panthers +1.5 (-170 via FanDuel) ⭐⭐⭐
✅ Moneyline pick: Lightning (-175 via DraftKings) ⭐⭐⭐
✅ Over/Under pick: Under 5.5 (-102 via FanDuel) ⭐⭐⭐⭐
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🔎 Our NEW NHL player prop odds tool can help you find the best NHL odds across legal sportsbooks in your area!
Many of the player props you’d usually find aren’t available. That probably concerns the uncertainty of which players will suit up. Hagel, however, with seven assists in the last three games, offers a solid pick to secure an apple. He also registered one assist in the previous two head-to-heads against the Cats. At +115, bet365 offers the best price of our best sports betting sites. 
🔢 Brandon Hagel player prop bet odds
Like Hagel, Cirelli is on a mini-hot streak, notching five points in the last three games. He has 58 points in 78 games and should play an instrumental role tonight. Cirelli has two points in the previous two meetings with Florida. Most of our best sports betting apps offer -110 odds, implying a 52.38% probability. A winning $10 bet would profit $9.09.
🔢 Anthony Cirelli player prop bet odds
As I’m banking on the Under, I’m willing to put a tenner on seeing no goals in the opening 9:59. DraftKings offers +114 odds for the prop, which carries a 46.73% probability. The rivals will want to feel each other out in the opening frame, particularly with an immense seven-game series most likely on the horizon. And Vasilevskiy should be more dialed in after a pair of subpar starts. 
🧪 Want to make your own SGP? Check out our NEW parlay calculator to get the best odds for any same-game parlay.
🛒 Shop around for the best Panthers vs. Lightning odds from our best sports betting apps.
🛜 Game already started? You can still get in on the action with our best live betting sites.
Opening odds via BetMGM.
Looking to bet on the NHL today? Here are our best NHL betting sites as determined by our expert team at Sportsbook Review, along with our best sportsbook promos ahead of today’s game.
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