Tampa Bay Lightning vs Vegas Golden Knights Lines Preview
Lightning Go For Wild Card Spot at Vegas's Expense
This match-up is interesting because we have both teams right next to each other in our power rankings. The Tampa Bay Lightning (36-25-6, 78 points) head to the desert to take on the Vegas Golden Knights (36-24-7, 79 points) at the T-Mobile Arena.
Both teams are not quite ready to win a Stanley Cup this season but should give us one of the more entertaining NHL scores tonight. Opening NHL betting lines show Vegas as a -135 home favorite with a total of 6.5 (over -115). Puck drop is scheduled for 10:00 p.m. ET and can be seen on SCRIPPS and Bally Sports Sunshine Network.
Let’s start our Lightning vs Knights line preview with a deeper look at Tampa.
Lightning Have Been Quiet For Most Of The Season
Just when you think the Tampa Bay Lightning are not Stanley Cup contenders, their top six makes you wonder “what if?”. Tampa features a top line that can have two 40-goal scorers in Brayden Point (36G, 37A, 73 points) and Nikita Kucherov (40G, 74A, 114 points). Their second line will have potentially two 25-goal scorers (Stamkos 27, Hagel 23) and the third with Nick Paul knocking on the door of 20 goals.
NHL betting stats show a glaring problem has come from an unexpected source. Two-time All-Star goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (24-16-1, 2.96 GA, .898) is having a down season despite the Lightning allowing just 29.7 shots per game (10th overall), 24th in goals allowed per game (3.36 per game) and ninth in total shots allowed (1,765). The Lightning are 36-31 this season (-0.74 units) and 6-5 (+0.59 units) over the last 30 days.
Tampa Bay owns the first wild card spot by four points in the Eastern Conference but is still seven points from catching the third-place Toronto Maple Leafs in the Atlantic Division.
Cassidy Still Looking For The Right Fit
With just 15 games left, head coach Bruce Cassidy is still trying to find the right combination to give Vegas the best shot at defending its Stanley Cup. At practice, Monday, it was clear who Cassidy thinks should step up their game as defensemen Zach Whitecloud and Nic Hague worked with skills development coach Sean Ferrell with both being healthy scratches in the Knights’ 3-1 win in New Jersey.
They are players who have played together for many years going back to the American Hockey League. They’re also two defensemen who should be at the point in their career where they should be leaned on instead of being inconsistent.
Vegas is better with Ben Hutton and Alec Martinez on the ice. But when the postseason starts, you can never have enough reliable players on the blue line. Hague is -6 this season while Whitecloud is -5. We’ll see how Cassidy feels about that third pairing when the puck drops. We estimate Vegas is better with Hutton and Martinez on that third pairing.
Vegas is in a strange playoff position because if it takes the third spot in the Pacific, its first-round opponent could be the Edmonton Oilers (ranked fourth in our power rankings). But if it takes the first or second wild card, it could face the Winnipeg Jets (6th) or Dallas Stars (8th). If it’s not Edmonton or Colorado, we’d rather face the Jets or Dallas as a wild card.
One thing is for sure, you don’t want to back into the postseason and that’s what it feels like right now with a 5-10 (5-9-1) record in their last 12 games. They’re still not in a position where we can consistently lean on them with our money.
Pace Of Play Favors Over
With Vasilevskiy still looking to find his form and the Golden Knights shuffling defensemen, there will be plenty of chances for this game to go over the total of six. The Lightning have leaned ‘over’ of late with five straight games cashing on here.
There is a sense that Jon Cooper’s team needs to outscore their inability to keep their opponents from quality chances which usually indicates that a quick pace is the key to success. Over their last seven games, Tampa has averaged four goals a game and six over their last three.
We think Vegas would rather not get in a track meet but have been better offensively with 14 goals in its last four games. If that happens Tuesday, we’ll have ourselves a winner with the over, making that our official selection.
That does it for our Lightning vs Knights lines preview, we wish you all the best with your NHL picks and parlays.
