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The Chicago Blackhawks will look to defend home ice tonight against the reigning back-to-back Stanley Cup Champions, the Tampa Bay Lightning. This will be the first time these teams will square off this season, as the Lightning are currently holding the top spot in the Atlantic Division and are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games. Chicago has managed to go 4-5-1 in their last 10 games and unless they can pull off a miracle, they're not going to be making the playoffs. With that, it’s time to continue our NHL odds series with a Lightning-Blackhawks prediction and pick.
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Here are the Lightning-Blackhawks NHL Odds, Courtesy of FanDuel
NHL Odds: Lightning-Blackhawks Odds
Tampa Bay Lightning: -1.5 (-104) (-265 ML)
Chicago Blackhawks: +1.5 (-118) (+215 ML)
Over: 6.5 (+104)
Under: 6.5 (-128)
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Why The Lightning Can Cover The Spread/Win
The Tampa Bay Lightning are looking to three-peat this year and win another Stanley Cup, and so far they're flying through the regular season to get to that point. The Lightning have one of the most potent offenses in hockey with 3.41 goals per game, ranking them seventh in the league. It's rare to find a team so deadly on both ends of the ice, and the Bolts are just that, ranking ninth in goals allowed per game with 2.77, mainly from the help of Vezina and Conn Smythe winner, Andrei Vaslievskiy. He's posting a .921 save percentage and a 2.32 goals-against average. Since backup Brian Elliott played on Friday against Detroit, it's safe to say Vasilevskiy will get the starting nod again tonight to shut the door on a rebuilding Blackhawks team.
Why The Blackhawks Can Cover The Spread/Win
The Chicago Blackhawks have unfortunately been near the bottom of the standings all season, ranking 30th in goals per game (2.45). Defensively, they could certainly be better as they rank 24th in the league for goals allowed with 3.38 goals per game. After winning his first Vezina trophy last season, goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury was brought in to help Chicago get better production this season. Fleury is actually playing much better than what his stat line shows as he's posting a save percentage of .911 and allowing 2.83 goals against per game. He'll look to get the start tonight where the overall talent between the pipes is fantastic, but he doesn't have the offensive or defensive help in front of him to get the Hawks over that hump.
Final Lightning-Blackhawks Prediction & Pick
Both of these teams have tremendous goaltending and it'll be on full display here tonight. With that said, hockey can be a very unpredictable game where anything can happen. I don't see an upset happening here tonight for the Hawks, and as much as the under 6.5 is tempting with both goaltenders being so good, I have a feeling that the Bolts just might surpass the over on their own. Give me the Bolts to cover the -1.5 point spread tonight (-104), but don't be scared to sprinkle half of a unit on the under too, just to keep it interesting.
Final Lightning-Blackhawks Prediction and Pick: Tampa Bay -1.5 (-104)
