The Tampa Bay Lightning will head to the Wells Fargo Center to clash with the Philadelphia Flyers in a thrilling Thursday night showdown. It's time to continue our NHL odds series with a Lightning-Flyers prediction and pick.
The Lightning fell to the Boston Bruins 3-1 on Monday. The Bolts entered the third period tied with the Bruins after a powerplay goal by Steven Stamkos. Then, they surrendered the go-ahead goal to Taylor Hall. The Bolts allowed an empty netter to seal the defeat.
The Flyers defeated the New York Islanders 3-1 on Tuesday. Philadelphia trailed 1-0 early in this game. Then, Travis Sanheim erased the deficit with a short-handed goal. It was his second goal of the season. Next, Kevin Hates broke the tie a few minutes later, capping off a solid shot for his seventh goal of the year. Hayes finished it off with an empty netter to seal the victory.
The Lightning is 12-3 against the Flyers since the start of the 2016-2017 season. Additionally, they are 7-1 over the previous eight games at Wells Fargo Center. Goalie Andres Vasilevskiy is 10-3 with a 2.35 goals-against average and a save percentage of .928 in 14 career games against the Flyers. Meanwhile, Nikita Kucherov has four goals and 18 assists through 21 career matches against Philadelphia. Stamkos has 27 goals and 24 assists through 38 games against Philadelphia.
Conversely, goalie Carter Hart has struggled against the Bolts with a 1-5-1 record with a 3.91 goals-against average and a save percentage of .878 against Tampa. Likewise, Hayes has five goals and six assists through 17 games against the Lightning.
Here are the Lightning-Flyers NHL odds, courtesy of FanDuel
NHL Odds: Lightning-Flyers Odds
Tampa Bay Lightning: -1.5 (+112)
Philadephia Flyers: +1.5 (-140)
Over: 6 (-104)
Under: 6 (-120)
Why The Lightning Could Cover The Spread
The Lightning has plenty of weapons to go around. Ultimately, they have many directions to turn to in the event of a scoring need. Kucherov has 10 goals and 25 assists, with four powerplay goals. Also, Stamkos has 13 goals and 14 assists, with seven tallies on the powerplay. Brayden Point has 10 goals and 14 assists, with five snipes on the extra-man attack.
Meanwhile, defenseman Mikhail Sergachev has four goals and 18 assists, including two on the powerplay. Alex Kilorn has added seven goals and 11 assists. However, star defenseman Victor Hedman has struggled, with only one goal and nine assists.
The Lightning is 12th in goals and seventh in shooting percentage. Moreover, they are fifth on the powerplay. The Bolts are scoring at an inconsistent rate but still excelling on the extra-man attack.
Vasilevskiy is 8-7 with a 2.88 goals-against average with a save percentage of .906. Significantly, he has played up and down throughout the first two months of the season. The Lightning is 17th in goals allowed, which indicates a need to clean up on defense in front of Vasilevskiy. Additionally, they are 20th on the penalty kill.
The Lightning will cover the spread if they can convert scoring chances and gain the upper hand on special teams. Therefore, they must avoid penalties and put themselves in an excellent position to succeed.
Why The Flyers Could Cover The Spread
The Flyers have fallen back down to Earth since their good start. Hence, things are not going as well as they were, and their offense is a significant reason for the struggles.
Hayes has eight goals and 16 assists, with one powerplay goal. Meanwhile, Travis Konecny has seven goals and 12 assists, with two tallies on the powerplay. Joel Farabee has added five goals and nine assists. Likewise, defenseman Ivan Provorov has one goal and 10 assists. Newcomer Owen Tippett has shown he can score in small bursts, with six goals and four assists. However, the Flyers are 29th in goals, 29th in shooting percentage, and dead last on the powerplay.
Goaltending and defense have not been much better. Unfortunately, the hot start to the season has flailed recently. Hart is 7-5-4 with a 2.73 goals-against average and a save percentage of .917. Moreover, they are 21st in goals allowed and 24th on the penalty kill. Whatever magic they had earlier this season has dissipated.
The Flyers will cover the spread if they can avoid penalties and stop the big guns on the Bolts from hurting them. Likewise, they must find scoring opportunities. The Flyers must capitalize on any chances the Lightning gives them and solve their issues quickly.
Final Lightning-Flyers Prediction & Pick
Tampa Bay has recently dominated this series with offense and solid goaltending. Therefore, expect more of the same as Stamkos and Kucherov take advantage of critical mistakes to hand the Flyers another loss. The Lightning will win and cover the odds.
Final Lightning-Flyers Prediction & Pick: Tampa Bay Lightning: -1.5 (+112)
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