Florida Panthers at Tampa Bay Lightning - 4/17/21 NHL Picks and Prediction
Photo by Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Tampa Bay Lightning (29-12-2) vs Florida Panthers (27-12-5)
Game Info: Saturday, April 17, 2021 at 7:00 pm (Amalie Arena)
Betting Odds: Tampa Bay Lightning -150 / Florida Panthers +125 --- Over/Under: 6.5 Click Here for the Latest Odds
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The Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning meet Saturday in NHL action at the Amalie Arena.
The Florida Panthers need a win after losing four of their last five games. The Florida Panthers are averaging 3.1 goals per game and are scoring on 22.1 percent of their power play opportunities. Aleksander Barkov leads Florida with 18 goals, Jonathan Huberdeau has 29 assists and Patric Hornqvist has 127 shots on goal. Defensively, the Florida Panthers are allowing 2.7 goals per game and are killing 79.7 percent of their opponents power plays. Chris Driedger has given up 39 goals on 556 shots faced and Sergei Bobrovsky has given up 69 goals on 744 shots.
The Tampa Bay Lightning look for a win after splitting their last 10 games. The Tampa Bay Lightning are averaging 3.4 goals per game and are scoring on 24.8 percent of their power play opportunities. Steven Stamkos leads Tampa Bay with 17 goals, Victor Hedman has 31 assists and Brayden Point has 103 shots on goal. Defensively, the Tampa Bay Lightning are allowing 2.4 goals per game and are killing 82.4 percent of their opponents power plays. Andrei Vasilevskiy has given up 64 goals on 937 shots faced and Curtis McElhinney has given up 31 goals on 225 shots.
The Panthers are 1-4 in their last 5 road games and 1-4 in their last 5 overall. The Lightning are 38-14 in their last 52 home games and 73-31 in their last 104 overall. The under is 3-0-1 in Panthers last 4 overall. The under is 4-1 in Lightning last 5 home games. The Panthers are 7-19 in the last 26 meetings in Tampa Bay and 3-12 in the last 15 meetings. The home team is 18-7 in the last 25 meetings. The favorite is 16-5 in the last 21 meetings.
The Tampa Bay Lightning are the better team here and should have the edge on their home ice, but the Panthers have been competitive in five meetings this season against them and have been on pace to being just as good as them or as productive as them. I've said many times this season, if you can get a team like the Florida Panthers and plus money, you take advantage of it.
Randy’s Pick Florida Panthers +125
AUTHOR: Randy Chambers
Mitch's Take...
