Fresh off a 5-3 victory over the Sabres, the Tampa Bay Lightning continue to travel south in the state of New York to take on the Islanders tonight. The Lightning are rolling through the standings with 72 points in 45 games and have won 18 of their last 20 overall. They’ll look to smash the Islanders, who have dropped their last two games at home and have lost their last five when hosting the Bolts.
The Lightning opened as -150 favorites with a total of 6.5.
- The Lightning are 10-1 SU and 9-2 ATS in their last 11 games vs the Islanders.
- The Islanders rank 4th in the NHL in goals allowed per game (2.63).
- The OVER has hit in the Lightning’s 4 games this season when on the second game of a back-to-back.
Lightning vs Islanders Game Center
Lightning Have Been Nearly Unstoppable This Season
The Lightning are Sportsbooks of 18 of their last 20 games, have only lost consecutive games once this year and own the best road record in the NHL. To quote Larry David, “that’s prettayy prettayy good.” The Bolts have carried over the success from last season into this year and if it wasn’t for the Capitals staging an epic comeback in the Eastern Conference Final, we may be discussing the Lightning in a different light.
Tampa Bay leads the NHL in goals per game, is first in converting with the man-advantage and has a stud in Nikita Kucherov that leads the NHL with 75 points in 45 games. The Lightning have also won 10 of the last 11 games in this matchup and covered the puckline in nine of those contests.
The one knock where bettors may try to talk themselves into wagering against the Lightning tonight is because they’re on the second game of a back-to-back. Well, in four games this season, they’re 3-1 SU and ATS (all road games, btw) in that spot and have scored five or more goals in three of them. It’s still worth noting but doesn’t carry enough weight to bet against them.
Goaltender Matchup
Andrei Vasilevskiy and Thomas Greiss are projected to get the start between the pipes tonight, respectively. Vasilevskiy is the reigning Vezina Trophy Sportsbook and the Russian has made four starts in January with the Lightning going 3-1 SU and ATS. The fourth-year goaltender owns a 2.49 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage this season but allowed 12 goals in three starts against the Islanders last year.
Greiss may not get any “goaltender of the month” awards anytime soon but he’s been serviceable enough for a defense that is ranked fourth in goals allowed per game (2.63) this season. Greiss sports a 2.69 goals-against average and .914 save percentage in 21 starts this season but since the beginning of December, his play has dropped off. In his last nine starts, he’s let in 29 goals for an .880 save percentage and allowed nine goals in two starts vs Tampa last year.
OVER ALERT For Lightning Games
The total opened at 6.5 in this matchup and with the Lightning involved, the OVER needs to be heavily considered. Look at some of these trends with Lightning games lately:
- The total has gone OVER in 9 of Tampa Bay's last 12 games (average combined score: 7.5)
- The total has gone OVER in 8 of Tampa Bay's last 9 games on the road (Average combined score)
- The total has gone OVER in the Lightning’s 4 games this season when on the second game of a back-to-back (average combined score: 8.2).
I know 6.5 totals can scare people off but the OVER has also hit in 13 of the Lightning’s 18 games when the total closes at that mark. That is why it’s my pick of the night!
