Two squads on winning streaks, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Philadelphia Flyers face off at the Wells Fargo Center for an Eastern Conference tilt. Sportsnet ONE will broadcast the game, and the puck drops at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday, January 25.
Tampa Bay Lightning at Philadelphia Flyers Odds
Tampa Bay (-120) is currently the favorite over Philadelphia (+100) and the Over/Under (O/U) is set at 6 goals (-110 for the over, -110 for the under).
Tampa Bay is 33-15 straight up (SU) and has earned 10.2 units for moneyline bettors this season. 28 of its contests have gone over the total, while 20 have gone under and none have pushed. The Bolts are 16-9 SU on the road in 2017-18.
Tampa Bay has converted on 24.0 percent of its power play opportunities this season, a figure that’s good enough for fourth-best in the NHL. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 22nd overall, and the team’s successfully killed off 79.2 percent of its penalties.
For the team as a whole, Tampa Bay has been penalized 4.1 times per game during the 2017-18 season, and 5.0 per game over its last five on the road. The team has been forced to kill penalties just 8.9 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
Sporting a .930 save percentage and 28.7 saves per game, Andrei Vasilevskiy (28-12-2) has been the primary option in goal for Tampa Bay this year. If head coach Jon Cooper chooses to rest him, however, the team could go with Louis Domingue (2-7), who has a .875 save percentage and 3.89 goals against average this year.
The visiting Lightning have relied heavily on Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos this year. Kucherov has 61 points via 27 goals and 34 assists, and has recorded multiple points 20 times. Stamkos has 18 goals and 38 assists to his creditand has logged at least one point in 32 games.
On the other bench, Philadelphia is 24-24 straight up (SU) and has lost 2.0 units for moneyline bettors this year. Through 48 regular season matches, 24 of its games have gone over the total, while 22 have gone under and just two have pushed. It’s 13-12 SU at home this season.
Philadelphia has converted on 20.6 percent of its power play chances this year, a figure that’s good enough for 10th-best in the league. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 28th overall, and it’s successfully killed off 75.3 percent of all penalties.
Philadelphia skaters have been sent to the penalty box only 3.7 times per game in total this season, 3.2 per game over their last five contests total, and 3.8 per game over their last five at home. The team’s had to kill penalties just 7.0 minutes per game over their last five outings.
Brian Elliott has stopped 26.4 shots per game as the primary choice in goal for Philadelphia. Elliott has 19 wins, 19 losses, and seven overtime losses to his name and has recorded a subpar .908 save percentage and 2.77 goals against average this year.
The Flyers offense will be led by Claude Giroux (14 goals, 42 assists).
Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Philadelphia Flyers Free Picks
Predictions: SU Winner – Lightning, O/U – Under
Notes
Betting Trends
The under has hit in four of Philadelphia’s last five games.
The Flyers are 7-10 SU in games where they serve more penalty minutes than their opponent while the Lightning are 10-3 SU when they serve more minutes than their opponent.
Philadelphia is 0-3 in games decided by a shootout this season while Tampa Bay is 2-2 in shootouts.
Philadelphia is ranked 28th overall with 5.7 takeaways per game. That figure’s trended higher, as it has created 7.0 takeaways over its last 10 games and 7.6 takeaways over its last five.
Tampa Bay skaters have created 5.2 takeaways per game over its last five road games, a drop-off from its season average of 7.3 takeaways per game (ranked 15th overall).
Tampa Bay could hold the upper hand if this one comes down to the wire. The team’s an impressive 13-6 in one-goal games, while Philadelphia is 8-13 in such games.
