The Tampa Bay Lightning enter the postseason on fire, and they'll use that momentum to propel themselves to a Game 1 win.
NHL
The time has finally come for the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers to drop the puck for their first-round playoff series. What a treat for hockey fans to have these two rivals go head-to-head right off the bat.
Florida got the best of Tampa in the playoffs last year, but my Lightning vs. Panthers predictions don’t think that will be the case this time around.
Find out why in my NHL picks for Tuesday, April 22, with puck-drop set for 8:30 p.m. ET at Amalie Arena.
This series is going to be a battle; there’s no other way around it. In previous years, it would probably have been in favor of the Florida Panthers.
However, with the amount of hockey they’ve played and the way things have been trending as of late, it feels like this matchup actually favors the Tampa Bay Lightning just a bit more.
They split the season series, with an even 2-2 result, but over the last month of the season, the Panthers weren’t very healthy and showed a lot of inconsistency in their game.
Tampa was the opposite. The Lightning had a strong finish to the year, and they’ll look to carry that momentum into the playoffs.
My Panthers vs Lightning pick: Lighnting moneyline (-115 at Sports Interaction)
The Tampa Bay Lightning had a really strong final push of the regular season, going 9-4-3 to finish. Not only did Nikita Kucherov lead the NHL in scoring during this stretch with 28 points in 16 games, but he also led the entire league this season with 121 points in 78 games.
As a team, the Lightning were the fourth highest-scoring team down the stretch, averaging 3.69 goals per game over the last 16 outings, and their special teams were on point as well. The Bolts’ power play was clicking at a 26.1% clip, while their penalty kill was at an 80% success rate.
Defensively, Tampa gave up 2.44 goals against per game in this span, and Andrei Vasilevskiy was one of, if not the hottest, goalies in the league. Vasilevskiy boasted a record of 7-2-2 while skating to a .933 SV% and a 1.71 GAA. In his last 10 games, he had the league’s second-highest goals saved above expected, earning a +11.5 rating. The man is on fire.
Not only were the Florida Panthers inconsistent down the stretch, but they also struggled to score. The only player who averaged a point per game was their captain, Aleksander Barkov, who had nine points in his final nine games; however, the team was only averaging 2.07 goals per game during that stretch.
Everything favors Tampa right now.
Lightning moneyline
Under 5.5
Brayden Point Over 0.5 goals
This is a goalie duel between Andrei Vasilevskiy and Sergei Bobrovsky, and Game 1s are almost always a feeling-out process. Vasilevskiy has been on fire, and Bobrovsky can turn it on come playoff time.
Brayden Point is the definition of a playoff player. He is a point-per-game player in his postseason career with 87 points in 87 games. If Tampa is going to win Game 1, Point will play a role in it.
Learn how to bet a same-game parlay with these helpful tips and strategies.
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Odds courtesy of Sports Interaction.
The Lightning have covered the puck line in 25 of their last 43 games at home (+10.45 Units / 20% ROI). Find more NHL betting trends for Panthers vs. Lightning.
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Jonny Lazarus has loved hockey for as long as he can remember. After his Division I playing career at UMass-Amherst and Mercyhurst University came to an end in 2020, he transitioned from being a player to working in the media. He might be young in his career, but he has made appearances in numerous places like the NHL, and Bleacher Report, and this season he will be doing color commentary for a selection of UMass-Amherst hockey games.
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