The Tampa Bay Lightning at Washington Capitals in Capital One Arena in sixth game of the NHL’s Eastern Conference Finals. NBC Sports Network will showcase the game, and the action gets underway at 8 p.m. ET on Monday, May 21.
Tampa Bay Lightning at Washington Capitals Odds
Washington (-130) is currently the favorite over Tampa Bay (+110), and the oddsmakers have set the Over/Under (O/U) at an even 6 goals (-120 for the under, +100 for the over).
Tampa Bay is 65-32 straight up (SU) and has earned moneyline bettors 13.1 units this year. Through 97 regular season matches, 55 of its games have gone over the total, while 36 have gone under and just six have pushed. As the road team this season, the Bolts are 30-17 SU.
The Lightning’ offense attempted 32.2 shots per game in the regular season, resulting in 3.6 goals per contest (ranked first overall in the NHL). In the playoffs, however, the club is down to an average of 29.5 shots on goal 3.3 goals per game.
Following a regular season where they converted 25.0 percent of all power-play opportunities (the third-strongest), the Lightning have connected on 30.2 percent of their extra-man advantages in the postseason. Their penalty kill has gone from 76.0 percent in the regular season to 75.6 percent in the playoffs.
Boasting a .919 save percentage and 29.2 saves per game, Andrei Vasilevskiy (55-25-3) has been the top option in goal for Tampa Bay this year. If head coach Jon Cooper chooses to rest him, however, Tampa Bay could turn to Louis Domingue (7-13-1), who has a .896 save percentage and 3.35 goals against average this year.
Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos will both be relied on to produce for the visiting Lightning. Kucherov (117 points) has tallied 46 goals and 71 assists, and has recorded multiple points in 35 different games. Stamkos has 34 goals and 68 assists to his name, and has logged at least one point in 64 games.
Washington is 59-40 straight up (SU) and has earned moneyline bettors 14.4 units this season. 53 of its matches have gone over the total, while 41 have gone under and just five have pushed. It’s 31-18 SU at home this year.
The Capitals have converted on 23.7 percent of their power play opportunities this year, a figure that places it in the top-10 among NHL teams. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 16th overall, and it’s successfully killed off 79.2 percent of all opponent power plays.
Capitals players have been whistled for penalties 4.1 times per game in total this season, 3.8 per game over their last five contests total, and 4.0 per game over their last five at home. The team’s been forced to defend opponent power plays just 8.5 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
Braden Holtby (27.0 saves per game) has been the top choice in goal for the Capitals. Holtby has 44 wins, 26 losses, and five overtime losses to his credit and has maintained a mediocre 2.82 goals against average and a subpar .909 save percentage this year.
The Caps will be led on offense by Alex Ovechkin (60 goals, 48 assists).
Tampa Bay Lightning at Washington Capitals Betting Predictions
Pick: SU Winner – Lightning, O/U – Under
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Notes
Betting Trends
Tampa Bay has managed 29.0 shot attempts per game over its last five road games while Washington is averaging 34.8 shots per game over its last five at home.
Over Tampa Bay’s last ten games, eight of them have been decided by two or more goals (the team is 5-3 in those games).
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