Red Wings vs. Lightning prediction: NHL odds, picks Thursday

The Tampa Bay Lightning have seemingly been in cruise control for the last two months.

Because the Bolts banked a bunch of points through the first four months of the NHL season, they were comfortably in the playoffs by New Year’s Day.

With the Boston Bruins playing at a historic pace, the Lightning really never had an incentive to chase down the division title, nor did they ever feel pressure from the teams below them in the standings.

It’s been a foregone conclusion that Tampa would play the Toronto Maple Leafs in Round One for quite some time, so you can’t really blame a team that’s been to three consecutive Stanley Cup Finals for pacing itself down the stretch.

Will the Bolts continue their pedestrian play against the Detroit Red Wings in their season finale?

Red Wings vs. Lightning prediction

(7 p.m. ET. ESPN+)

Tampa Bay’s lackluster run of form is nothing new.

Ever since the Bolts won the Presidents’ Trophy in 2018-19 only to be bounced in Round 1 by the Columbus Blue Jackets, the team has seemingly used the regular season as nothing more than a glorified tune-up for the postseason.

It seems like a dangerous game to play — and there are legitimate questions to be asked of Tampa’s chances this spring — but this is just what this team does, and it’s hard to imagine that a meaningless game against the Red Wings will inspire the Bolts to all of a sudden ramp things up.

The mission for Tampa is to get out of this game in one piece.

As for the Red Wings, they’ve had some moments this season but were undone by a lack of consistency and poor goaltending.

Detroit is 4-5-1 in its last 10, but the Wings have some impressive wins over Carolina, Pittsburgh, and Toronto in that span.

Detroit doesn’t have the depth that the top teams in the NHL possess, but there’s plenty of upside on this roster, which makes the Wings a live underdog any time they step onto the ice.

Betting on the NHL?

Tampa Bay has won three of its last 10 games and its 5-on-5 numbers in that span are pretty ugly.

The Bolts may turn things around when the games start to matter again, but this is another glorified preseason contest and we could see a pretty lackluster effort from a team that is just begging for the playoffs to start.

Detroit has plenty of value in this spot on Thursday night.

Red Wings vs. Lightning pick

Detroit Red Wings +205 (FanDuel)