Tampa Bay Lightning vs. N.Y. Islanders Prediction, Preview, and Odds
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A pair of Eastern Conference rivals face off on the ice Saturday when the Tampa Bay Lightning (30-23-5, 65 points, 5th Atlantic) pay a visit to Long Island to play the New York Islanders (23-19-4, 60 points T-4th Metro). Tampa Bay was defeated by the Washington Capitals 5-3 on Thursday night and the Lightning have lost three straight. Tampa Bay is two points behind the third and final qualifying spot in their division and currently holding the second of two wild card spots, five points in front of Washington. New York was defeated by the St Louis Blues 4-0 on Thursday night and have lost four of the last five. New York is five points behind the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. Tampa Bay will play without Tanner Jeannot, Mikhail Sergachev and Logan Brown. New York will play without Robert Bortuzzo and Hudson Fasching.
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Tampa Bay scores enough but gives up too many
Tampa Bay has a goals for average of 3.38 per game which is 7th in the NHL while averaging 29.9 shots per game which is 22nd. Tampa Bay is winning 51.2% of its face-offs which is 10th. The Lightning have the best power play in the NHL, scoring 29.7% of the time with the man advantage. Nikita Kucherov is Tampa Bay's stats leader leading the Lightning in goals scored with 36, in assists with 59 and in points with 95. Brayden Point is second in goals with 28 and Victor Hedman is second in assists with 45. Point is second in points with 59.
Tampa Bay has a goals against average of 3.41, which is 25th in hockey. The Lightning are allowing an average of 29.7 shots per game which is 10th and the penalty kill unit for Tampa Bay is 13th, holding opponents scoreless 80.5% of the time the Lightning are short-handed. Andrei Vasilevskiy is 19-14-0 with a 2.98 goals against average, .896 save percentage and one shutout in 33 appearances.
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New York needs to score more often and make more stops on defense
New York has a goals for average of 2.93, which is 22nd in the NHL. New York averages 30.2 shots per game which is 19th and is winning 51% of its face-offs which is 11th. New York's power play is 12th, scoring 22.9% of the time the Islanders have the man advantage. Brock Nelson is leading New York in goals scored with 24, while Noah Dobson is the leader in assists with 51 and Mathew Barzal is the points leader with 59. Bo Horvat is second in goals scored with 22 and Barzal is second in assists with 42.
Varlamov leads the team out. #Isles | @UBSpic.twitter.com/2PpTFrnpbn
— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) February 23, 2024
New York has a goals against average of 3.34, which is 24th in the NHL. The Islanders are allowing an average of 34.3 shots per game which is 31st or next to last. New York’s penalty kill unit is last in the NHL, holding opponents scoreless only 71.3% of the time the Islanders are short-handed. Ilya Sorokin is 17-12-11 with a 3.14 goals against average, .910 save percentage and two shutouts
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Best Bets for this Game
Full-Game Side Bet
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Tampa Bay has struggled at its own end of the ice this season. Andrei Vasilevskiy has a 2.98 goals against average with a slightly below average .898 save percentage. Tampa Bay has lost three consecutive games that Valsilevskiy has been in goal and the Russian netminder has allowed four goals in two of those three games and six in the other. Tampa Bay has lost four of the last six games played on New York's home ice and the Lightning have lost five of the last seven against the team from the Eastern Conference. Ilya Sorokin was victorious in overtime 5-4 when in goal last time for New York. Sorokin has a 3.14 goals against average but a very solid .910 save percentage meaning he faces many shots on goal and saves far more than his share.
Prediction: New York Islanders to cover
Full-Game Total Pick
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The total has finished over in four of New York's last six games and in four of the last five games that Tampa Bay and New York played head-to-head. In the last game that New York's Ilya Sorokin was in goal a total of nine goals were scored and in the previous game to that against the New York Rangers, 11 goals were scored. The total has finished over in three of the last four games that Tampa Bay's Andrei Vasilevskiy has been between the pipes.
Prediction: OVER
Kevin grew up in a sports-only household. Every afternoon was set to watching any sport that was on T.V. After years of watching sports he got introduced to the betting world, and soon stats, trends, and odds were Kevin's best friends. Now, almost 2 decades later, His life revolves around sports, writing about them, and betting on them. We are glad to have Kevin on our Winners & Whiners & StatSalt teams and you should be happy that we have him as well.
