The Tampa Bay Lightning look to even the series up at Capital One Arena in Game 4 of the NHL’s Eastern Conference Finals. The game gets started at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday, May 17 and it’s being televised live on NBC Sports Network.
Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Washington Capitals Odds
The money line for either team is currently set at an identical -110 and the Over/Under (O/U) has been set at 6 goals. The line for betting that total stands at -115 for the over and -105 on the under.
Tampa Bay is 63-32 straight up (SU) and has earned 11.0 units for moneyline bettors this year. 55 of its games have gone over the total, while 35 have gone under and just five have pushed. The Bolts are 29-17 SU as an away team in 2017-18.
Following a regular season where they converted 24.9 percent of all power-play opportunities (the third-best), the Lightning have connected on 30.0 percent of their power plays in the postseason. Their penalty kill’s gone from 75.6 percent in the regular season to 73.2 percent in the playoffs.
The Lightning’ offense attempted 32.4 shots per game in the regular season, resulting in 3.6 goals per contest (ranked first overall in the NHL). In the playoffs, the team’s attempting an average of 30.8 shots on goal ( 3.3 goals per game).
With a .919 save percentage and 29.2 saves per game, Andrei Vasilevskiy (53-25-3) has been the primary option in goal for Tampa Bay this season. If head coach Jon Cooper decides to rest him, however, Tampa Bay could go with Louis Domingue (7-13-1 record, .896 save percentage, 3.35 goals against average).
Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos will both look to continue their strong seasons for the visiting Lightning. Kucherov (116 points) has tallied 46 goals and 70 assists, and has recorded multiple points in 34 different games. Stamkos has 33 goals and 68 assists to his credit (and has logged at least one point in 62 games).
Washington is 59-38 straight up (SU) and has earned 16.8 units for moneyline bettors this season. 53 of its games have gone over the total, while 40 have gone under and just four have pushed. It’s 31-17 SU at home this year.
The Capitals have converted on 24.0 percent of their power play chances this season, a figure that’s good enough for seventh-best in the league. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 16th overall, and it’s successfully killed off 79.3 percent of all opponent power plays.
Washington skaters have been whistled for penalties 4.1 times per game in total this season, 4.4 per game over their last five games total, and 4.6 per game over their last five home outings. The team’s had to kill penalties 8.8 minutes per game over their last five outings.
Braden Holtby (27.3 saves per game) has been the primary option in goal for the Capitals. Holtby has 44 wins, 24 losses, and five overtime losses to his credit and has registered a pedestrian 2.82 goals against average and a subpar .910 save percentage this season.
Alex Ovechkin (59 goals, 47 assists) will pace the offensive attack for the hosts.
Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Washington Capitals Betting Picks
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Notes
Betting Notes
Washington’s attempted 29.7 shots per game overall this season (ranked 31st in the NHL), and 30.6 over their last 10 outings.
Nine of Tampa Bay’s last ten games have been decided by two goals or more. The team is 6-3 in those games.
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