The Seattle Kraken are hoping they can sustain their form after a win over the weekend. That's also the mission of the Tampa Bay Lightning, who have been on of the hottest teams in the NHL lately. Will the Kraken embarrass Tampa on the road? Or will the Lightning strike anew? With all that being said, let’s now take a look at our NHL odds series plus our Kraken-Lightning prediction for this showdown scheduled at 7:00 PM ET.
Here are the Seattle Kraken-Tampa Bay Lightning NHL odds, courtesy of FanDuel
NHL Odds: Kraken-Lightning Odds
Seattle Kraken: +1.5 (-158)
Tampa Bay Lightning: -1.5 (+128)
Over: 6.5 (-102)
Under: 6.5(-120)
Why The Kraken Could Cover The Spread
Seattle was not going to lose any more sleep over the losing it’s sustained in a recent stretch, as the Kraken finally broke out of their three-game losing slump in a 5-2 victory on the road against the Florida Panthers last Sunday. The offensive explosion was a welcome sight for the Kraken in the Florida game, who were outscored 13-4 in the aforementioned losing streak. At the same time, the Kraken limiting the Panthers down to only a couple of goals was another major boost to Seattle’s confidence, particularly in the team’s defense.
Seattle has a great 101.3 5-on-5 PDO so far this season, and that’s seventh-best in the league. The Kraken’s volume shooting and accuracy are major reasons for the success they’re having offensively. They are also tough to beat in the possession battle, which is why the Kraken are always a huge threat to opposing defenses. The Kraken are eighth overall with a 5-on-5 Corsi for rate of 52.5 and that aggressiveness has translated to an average of 3.56 goals per contest.
Only four teams average more goals per game than Seattle. Even when including Seattle’s recent three losses, the Kraken still managed to post a 54.9 CF%. The best could be yet to come for Seattle, which ranks No. 1 both in 5-on-5 shooting percentage (9.5) and overall shooting percentage (12.1%) in the league. For one, the Kraken have an expected goals for of 58.2, which is way lower than their actual 5-on-5 goals for of 65 – fifth-best in the NHL.
Tampa Bay is pretty stout defensively with an all-world goalie and a tough blueline, but so long as the Kraken could generate shots at the usual rate and take away extra possessions from the Lightning, Seattle will be a threat to either break away or quickly trim deficits. Andre Burakovsky only has a goal in four games played in December but has six in his last 10. Burakovsky’s linemates Jaden Schwartz and Alexander Wenneberg have combined for five goals and four assists in the same span. Production can also be found from all the way down in the fourth line with Daniel Sprong finding the back of the net four times in also the last 10 Kraken outings.
Why The Lightning Could Cover The Spread
Like the Kraken, Tampa Bay made the Panthers its punching bag in its last outing, beating the Panthers at home last Saturday to the tune of a 4-1 score. The Bolts are in terrific form, offensively and defensively. They are 10-3-0 in their last 13 games, during which they’ve recorded a fantastic 102.6 PDO, outscored opponents, 52-36, and posted a 53.0 CF%. It’s hard to beat Tampa Bay because of that kind of great balance on both ends of the ice. The Lightning can win games with their overpowering attack or with their outstanding defense, particularly in the crease, as they have goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy.
Speaking of the Russian netminder, he is 11-8-1 in 20 starts this season to go with a .911 saves percentage and 2.66 goals against average. This season, Tampa Bay is top 10 with 3.52 goals per game and while they have not scored a power-play goal in the Panthers game, the Lightning are fifth in the NHL with a 27.72 percent success rate on the man advantage. When you consider that the Kraken have a seemingly faulty defense, it’s not that hard to imagine Steven Stamkos and the Lightning lighting up the scoreboard later tonight.
The Kraken are allowing 3.15 goals per game and have allowed 15 goals in their last four games. Moreover, Seattle’s special teams are usually ineffective in preventing power-play goals from the opposing sides, with the Kraken being fourth-worst overall with just a 69.66 PK%. The first line of Brandon Hagel, Brayden Point, and Nikita Kucherov might already be smelling blood miles away. That triumvirate has the best expected goals for in the entire NHL among linemates who’ve played at least 100 minutes together this season.
Final Kraken-Lightning Prediction & Pick
The Lightning are well-rested and playing at home. More than that, they have the better goaltender who can be relied upon to handle the aggressiveness of Seattle. Taking the Lightning to win by at least two goals.
Final Seattle Kraken-Tampa Bay Lightning Prediction & Pick: Tampa Bay Lightning -1.5 (+128)
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