Two of the best in the Eastern Conference take the ice as the Tampa Bay Lighting face the New York Rangers. It is time to continue our NHL odds series with a Lightning-Rangers prediction, pick, and how-to-watch.

The Lightning comes into the game sitting at 27-18-5 on the year, good for third in the Atlantic Division. The Lighting entered the all-star break strong, winning eight of their last nine games. The last three were dominating performances as well. They won each of them by a score of 6-3, including their last game against the Devils. In that game, it was a slow start for the two teams, with no goals in the first period. The Lightning would strike twice in the second period, with goals by Nicholas Paul and Brandon Hagel. In the third, Steven Stamkos would add a goal, Hagel would score his second, and Brayden Point would score twice. Even though they gave up three in the period, the Lightning would win 6-3.

Meanwhile, the Rangers come into the game sitting at 31-16-3 on the year and are coming off their first game post the all-star break. They faced the Colorado Avalanche last time out. In the first period, the Avalanche scored on a Nathan MacKinnon goal to make it 1-0. After a scoreless second, and the first 11 minutes of the third, Artemi Panarin scored his 31st of the year to tie the game. This would force overtime where Alexis Lafreniere scored to win the game.

Here are the NHL Odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

NHL Odds: Lightning-Rangers Odds

Tampa Bay Lightning: +1.5 (-210)

Moneyline: +116

New York Rangers: -1.5 (+172)

Moneyline: -140

Over: 6.5 (+112)

Under: 6.5 (-138)

How to Watch Lightning vs. Rangers

Time: 7:00 PM ET/ 4:00 PM PT

TV: TNT

Stream: fuboTV (Click for free trial)

Why The Lightning Will Cover The Spread/Win

The Lightning sit seventh in the NHL in scoring this year with 3.48 goals per game on the season. Nikita Kucherov leads the team in goals, assists, and points this year. He comes into the game with 32 goals on the season and 53 assists, good for 85 total points. Kucherov tied for the NHL lead in points this year while sitting tied for fourth in the NHL in goals. He has been great on the power play this year, with 11 goals and 26 assists on the power play this year. Meanwhile, Brayden Point sits second on the team in goals and points this year. He has 25 goals and 29 assists this year, good for his 54 points. Seven of the goals and 12 assists come on the power play.

Joining him as a top scorer is Steven Stamkos. Stamkos comes in with 21 goals this year and 26 assists good for 47 points on the year. He also has been solid on the power play, with 11 goals and 16 assists this year. Meanwhile, Lightning also gets a lot of help from the blue line on offense. Victor Hedman comes into the game with nine goals and 41 assists this year, good for 50 points. This gives the Lightning three players with 50 or more points, and two other players over 40 points on the year.

The Lightning have been great this year on the power play. They have a 29.9 percent success rate this year on the power play, with 47 total power-play goals. That is the first in the NHL this year. Further, the Lightning have been average when man-down this year. They are 14th in the NHL on the penalty kill with an 81.1 percent success rate this year.

The Lighting is expected to send Andrei Vasilevskiy to defend the net in this one. He is 16-10-0 this year with a 2.85 goals-against average and a .899 save percentage. In January, Vasilevskiy was solid. He went 8-3-0 on the month while posting a 2.74 goals-against average and a .897 save percentage. While he did allow three goals in four of his last five stars, he was able to win all of them, with the Lightning scoring six or more goals in each one.

Why The Rangers Will Cover The Spread/Win

The Rangers come into the game sitting 12th in the NHL in goals per game this year, with 3.24 per game on the season. Artemi Panarin leads the team this year in goals, assists, and points. He comes in with 31 goals on the year, with 36 assists, good for 67 points. He has been amazing on the power play as well, with nine goals and 19 assists when having the man advantage. Meanwhile, Chris Kreider is also scoring well. He has 23 goals this year, with 22 assists. His 45 points place him fourth on the team this year. Further, he also has nine goals on the power play, while giving out seven assists.

Sitting second on the team in points is Mika Zibanejad. Zibanejad comes into the game tied for third on the team in goals this year with 15 of them while sitting second on the team in assists with 32. That gives him a total of 47 points. Further. he has seven goals and 14 assists on the power play. It is a multi-line attack for the Rangers as well. Vincent Trocheck leads the second unit, coming in with 15 goals and 31 assists on the year, good for a third-ranked 46 points. He has been setting up Alexis Lafreniere, who has 13 goals and 17 assists on the year.

The Rangers are the fourth-best team in the NHL on the power play this year. They have scored on 27.0 percent of their chances, also scoring 41 power-play goals. Further, they have been solid on the penalty kill this year, sitting with an 84.2 percent success rate, which is good for fifth in the NHL.

They are expected to start Igor Shesterkin in the goal. He is 19-12-1 on the year with a 2.86 goals-against average and a .899 save percentage. It is also coming in off an all-star game appearance. Shesterkin had struggled some in January. While he had a 4-5-1 record on the month, he was allowing 3.25 goals per game. Further, he has just a .863 save percentage on the month.

Final Lightning-Rangers Prediction & Pick

While both Igor Shesterkin and Andrei Vasilevskiy are more than capable of having great games, they both are coming into the game with under .900 save percentages. Further, both offenses are more than capable of getting plenty of shots on goal and scoring at will. Both teams are coming in with over three goals per game. Also, the Lightning have been scoring at a great pace as of late. They have scored 44 goals in the last ten games, while thye are still giving up just under three goals a game in that time. The prediction for this Lightning-Rangers match-up is another high-scoring game, making the best pick on the over.

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Final Lightning-Rangers Prediction & Pick: Over 6.5 (+112)