Lightning vs Panthers Prediction NHL Picks 3/16/24

Florida Panthers (45-18-4) vs Tampa Bay Lightning (35-25-6)

Game Info: Saturday, March 16, 2024 at 6:00 pm (Amerant Bank Arena)

Betting Odds: Florida Panthers -154 / Tampa Bay Lightning +123 --- Over/Under: 6

The Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers meet Saturday in NHL action at the Amerant Bank Arena. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Tampa Bay Lightning vs Florida Panthers prediction.

Tampa Bay Lightning Betting Preview

The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Flyers and Rangers while losing to the Flames. The Tampa Bay Lightning are averaging 3.44 goals per game and are scoring on 29.4 percent of their power play opportunities. Nikita Kucherov leads Tampa Bay with 39 goals, Victor Hedman has 54 assists and Steven Stamkos has 195 shots on goal. Defensively, the Tampa Bay Lightning are allowing 3.36 goals per game and are killing 81 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Jonas Johansson has given up 81 goals on 720 shots faced, while Andrei Vasilevskiy has allowed 116 goals on 1,115 shots.

Florida Panthers Betting Preview

The Florida Panthers recently beat the Stars and Flames while losing to the Hurricanes. The Florida Panthers are averaging 3.31 goals per game and are scoring on 26.3 percent of their power play opportunities. Sam Reinhart leads Florida with 46 goals, Matthew Tkachuk has 53 assists and Carter Verhaeghe has 218 shots on goal. Defensively, the Florida Panthers are allowing 2.34 goals per game and are killing 81.9 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Sergei Bobrovsky has allowed 109 goals on 1,323 shots faced, while Anthony Stolarz has given up 40 goals on 531 shots.

Florida Panthers Player Prop Facts

• Sam Reinhart has scored at least one goal in four of the Panthers' last five games as favorites against Eastern Conference opponents.
• Carter Verhaeghe has recorded an assist in each of the Panthers' last five games against Atlantic Division opponents.
• Sam Reinhart has recorded at least one point in each of the Panthers' last seven games against Atlantic Division opponents.
• Sam Reinhart ranks 1st in the league for Power Play Goals (26) this season.

Tampa Bay Lightning Player Prop Facts

• Brayden Point has scored a goal in each of the Lightning's last four games against Atlantic Division opponents.
• Nikita Kucherov has recorded at least one assist in each of the Lightning's last nine games.
• Brayden Point has recorded at least one point in each of his last 10 appearances against Eastern Conference opponents.
• Nikita Kucherov ranks T1st in the league for Power Play Points (42) this season.

Matchup/League Facts

• The Florida Panthers rank 2nd in the league for goals against per game this season (2.37).
• The Florida Panthers rank 3rd in the league in power play percentage this season (26.82%).
• The Tampa Bay Lightning rank 1st in the league in power play percentage this season (29.44%).
• The Tampa Bay Lightning rank 6th in the league for goals per game this season (3.44).

Tampa Bay Lightning vs Florida Panthers prediction

The Florida Panthers are going to be eager to get that nasty taste out of their mouth after that blowout loss to the Canes. The Tampa Bay Lightning are 14-16-2 on the road this season. The Panthers have won four straight games against the Lightning and outscored them 23-6 in those games. The Florida Panthers are just comfortably the better team this season and they haven't lost back to back games in two months. I'm not stepping in front of the Panthers here especially with a reasonable price. Give me the Cats on their home ice. 

The pick in this article is the opinion of the writer, not a PickDawgz site consensus.