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The Tampa Bay Lightning head into Western Canada tonight as they look to take on the Edmonton Oilers in this cross-conference matchup. This will be the second meeting between these two teams as the Lightning won the first game 5-3 in February. Can Tampa Bay take care of business yet again tonight? It’s time to continue our NHL odds series with a Lightning-Oilers prediction and pick.
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Here are the Lightning-Oilers NHL Odds, Courtesy of FanDuel
NHL Odds: Lightning-Oilers Odds
Tampa Bay Lightning: -1.5 (+168) (-166 ML)
Edmonton Oilers: +1.5 (-210) (+138 ML)
Over: 6.5 (-106)
Under: 6.5 (-114)
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Why The Lightning Can Cover The Spread/Win
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The Tampa Bay Lightning enter this contest on a rare two-game losing streak after a 4-1 loss to Calgary on Thursday. They'll look to avoid a third consecutive loss as that's only happened to them twice this season. The Lightning are currently sitting in second place in the Atlantic Division, five points behind their former Florida team, the Panthers. With a win tonight, they'll look to gain ground on the Maple Leafs who are slowly creeping up on taking that second-place spot right from under them.
Former Vezina trophy-winning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy is highly considered one of the best netminders in the league, as he'll look to get another start between the pipes tonight. He's won eight of his last 10 road games as a favorite where all eight games won in regulation. Vasilevskiy is having yet another great season even though his numbers don't exactly show it. On the season overall, he's sporting a .917 save percentage and allowing 2.43 goals per game. He'll look to get back on track tonight as the Lightning continue to try and three-peat the Stanley Cup this year.
Why The Oilers Can Cover The Spread/Win
The Edmonton Oilers enter this game after a 4-3 overtime win against the Capitals on Wednesday and are a rare home underdog tonight, for just the fourth time this season. The Oilers are currently just outside of the playoffs, as the Stars are in the second wild-card position with just one point more than them. However, they could very easily jump to the third-place position in the Pacific over the Knights with a win here tonight.
Edmonton's biggest problem has been their inconsistent goaltending. Backup Mikko Koskinen is confirmed to get the start in the home crease tonight as he has had his struggles as of late. Over his last three starts, Koskinen has posted a .892 save percentage allowing 3.33 goals per game. On the season, however, Koskinen has a .904 save percentage and 3.04 goals against per game. He'll have to really stand on his head tonight and play his best game if he wants to get a win over the always dangerous Tampa Bay Lightning.
Final Lightning-Oilers Prediction & Pick
This is one of those “let's not overthink this” kind of game. The Lighting are simply the better team overall and have had the Oilers' number over the last couple of seasons, winning this matchup in five consecutive meetings. I think Tampa is going to head into Edmonton today with a win on their mind since there's no way they're going to allow themselves to have a three-game losing streak at this point in the season. I don't like the odds for the Lightning to win straight up, and I don't trust the spread here, so I'm going to take the classic 3-Way Moneyline bet in plus money, forcing them to win in regulation with no overtime.
Final Lightning-Oilers Prediction and Pick: Lightning 3-Way ML (+105)
