NHL Predictions & Odds 2/21/23

Anaheim Ducks (17-33-7) vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (35-17-3)
February 21, 2023 7:00 pm EDT
The Line: Tampa Bay Lightning -520 / Anaheim Ducks +390; Over/Under: +6.5
(Get latest betting odds)

The Anaheim Ducks and the Tampa Bay Lightning meet in NHL action from the Amalie Arena on Tuesday night. Let’s dive into the odds, injuries, matchup history and make a prediction for this game.

Odds

Tampa Bay is a -520 home favorite while Anaheim is a +390 road underdog. The total for this game is set at 6 goals.

Injuries

For Anaheim, Anthony Stolarz is out with a lower body injury, as Is Urho Vaakanainen, while Troy Terry is also out with an upper body injury. For the Lightning, Erik Cernak is questionable with an upper body injury.

Matchup History

Tampa Bay’s 3-2 win back on October 26, 2022, made it back-to-back wins and wins in 5 of the last 6 meetings for the Lightning.

Trends

Anaheim is 10-47 in their last 57 games against a team with a winning record and 1-8 in their last 9 games played on no rest while the over is 10-1-1 in their last 12 games against the Eastern Conference. Tampa Bay is 52-18 in their last 70 home games and 40-14 in their last 54 games against the Pacific division while the under is 8-2-2 in their last 12 games against a team with a winning percentage below .400.  

Pick

I’m backing the over here. Laying the -1.5 provides no value and even the -2.5 can be tough because as good as Tampa Bay is, we saw Anaheim give Florida all they could handle on Monday and even burn puck line bettors. I feel the over’s the way to go because Tampa Bay will get their share of goals, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Tampa Bay started backup Brian Elliott in this game to get Andrei Vasilevskiy some rest. Either way I think we’re marked for goals here so give me the over.