Game two of the Battle of Florida kicks off tonight as the Florida Panthers will host the winners of game one, the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Panthers are desperate for a win here as they didn't get off to the start that they wanted in this series. The Lightning proved why they're the back-to-back champions with a huge win in round one. Either way, I expect the tone to be set pretty early and often. It’s time to continue our NHL odds series with a Lightning-Panthers prediction and pick.
Here are the Lightning-Panthers NHL Odds, Courtesy of FanDuel
NHL Odds: Lightning-Panthers Odds
Tampa Bay Lightning: +1.5 (-192) (+132 ML)
Florida Panthers: -1.5 (+158) (-160 ML)
Over: 6.5 (-118)
Under: 6.5 (-104)
Why The Lightning Can Cover The Spread/Win
The Tampa Bay Lightning are looking really good after winning game one and another win tonight would be huge for their confidence before heading back home for games three and four. Superstar goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy had a mediocre first round but really turned it around in the second round as he stopped 33 out of 34 shots for a .971 save percentage. The Panthers have a solid offensive core that can really do damage when the time comes, so it's refreshing to see Vasilevskiy do Vasilevskiy things again. They say it's not a series until you lose at home, and the Bolts already put that pressure on the Panthers in game one. They'll look to keep it up for game two and then have a home crowd advantage for the next two games.
Why The Panthers Can Cover The Spread/Win
The Florida Panthers have started to enter desperation mode as they lost game one pretty decidedly. If they go down 2-0 in this series, especially at home, they might as well kiss their championship season goodbye as the Lightning would never roll over and still haven't lost two games in a row in the playoffs for over two years. It's a tough ask to get pucks past Vasilevskiy, but the Panthers need more production on offense. The Cats are typically a comeback kind of team, but they need to get goals early and often in this game if they want to compete. The Panthers have also yet to score on the powerplay throughout the entire playoffs so far. I have zero doubt that tonight's effort from the Panthers is going to be their strongest yet.
Final Lightning-Panthers Prediction & Pick
Here's the thing, I like the Lightning in this matchup. Watching the Panthers play in the regular season vs the playoffs is a different team. Yes, they gave up game one to the Capitals in the first round and ended up winning that, but the Lightning are certainly not the Capitals. While I think the Bolts are going to win this series, the Cats are going to come out guns blazing and win this game. The issue with that is their odds. Even after losing game one, it's as if their odds got even worse? For value, I'm taking their puck line, just hoping for an empty-net goal at the end to cover the spread.
Final Lightning-Panthers Prediction and Pick: Panthers -1.5 (+158)
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