Florida Panthers vs Tampa Bay Lightning Prediction, 5/20/2021 NHL Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Florida Panthers vs Tampa Bay Lightning

Date: Thursday, May 20, 2021

Location: Amalie Arena in Tampa, FL

TV: USA

Odds/Point Spread: Panthers (+130) Lightning (-150)

Sergei Bobrovsky and the Florida Panthers (37-14-5) travel to Amalie Arena on Thursday where they'll take on the Tampa Bay Lightning (36-17-3) in Game 3 of their series. Tampa leads the series 2-0. The Lightning open this matchup at -150 while the Panthers are priced at +130. The total has been set at 5.5.

The Panthers will look to clean up some issues after taking a 3-1 loss against the Lightning in Game 2. The Panthers didn't have their best offensive outing in the defeat. In the matchup, they scored on 1 of the 33 shots they tried. Moreover, they had 3 opportunities with more players on the ice but weren't able to make the most of them. Florida accrued 8 minutes in the box for this contest. The Corsi for the Panthers came in at 56 and the Corsi against when this game finished was 41 meaning they had a Corsi rate of 57.7%. Their Fenwick was 43 and the Fenwick against was 31, giving them a Fenwick rate of 58.1%. They compiled 25 face-off wins at even strength and lost on 24 attempts to take control of the puck. When starting in the offensive zone they came in at 42.6% and their PDO was 91.3 for this one.

The Panthers have had 1,682 shots tried against them and have a save percentage of .910. When at even strength, the Panthers have conceded 117 goals while having 149 on offense. Florida Panthers opponents have earned 168 power play opportunities (12th in hockey) and have a total of 34 goals in those chances. For the year, they have recorded 79 points and their points percentage sits at .705. Florida has tried 1,954 shots and holds a shooting percentage of 9.6%. With regard to scoring goals, the Florida Panthers have racked up 188 goals (4th in the league) this year and have conceded 151. Florida comes into tonight with 190 power play chances and they have tallied 39 goals out of those attempts, garnering them a percentage of 20.53%.

Protecting the goal for this matchup will be Sergei Bobrovsky. Opponents have scored 1,321 goals versus Bobrovsky in his NHL career and his goals against average per contest is 2.56. Bobrovsky has been in net for 538 games throughout his NHL career. His save percentage currently is .916 for his 30,993 mins on the ice. He has a win-loss record of 297-180-45 and he has started in 524 games. Over the course of his pro career, Bobrovsky has accrued 296 quality starts and his quality starts rate is .565. Bobrovsky has seen 15,803 shots against him and has accrued 14,482 total saves.

In Game 2 the Lightning had 3 opportunities on the power play in this one but weren't able to put one in the back of the net. The Lightning netted 3 goals of the 29 shots on goal they pursued. Their PDO was 109 and they finished the game with an oZS percentage of 57.4%. Tampa Bay went home with a 42.3% Corsi rate. This Corsi percentage speaks to the kind of game that Tampa Bay played and we'd say they played an average game. Their Fenwick rate was 41.9% by way of having a Fenwick of 31 and the Panthers earning a 43 Fenwick at even strength.

For the year, the Tampa Bay Lightning are sitting with 180 goals, 75 points, in addition to a points percentage of .670. They have allowed 145 goals to be scored by way of 116 goals at even strength and 29 goals while they had less men on the ice. The Lightning have racked up 140 goals at even strength and 40 goals (4th in professional hockey) while having a power play advantage. They have recorded 179 power play opportunities and they have a power play percentage of 22.35%. Tampa Bay has put up 1,692 shots (9th in the NHL) and has a shot percentage of 10.64%, while allowing their opponents 1,583 shots. They have a penalty kill percentage of 84.15% on their opponents 183 power play opportunities, and their save percentage comes in at 90.8%.

On the other side of the ice you are going to see Andrei Vasilevskiy protecting the goal. Teams are averaging 2.51 goals/game and he has allowed 736 goals altogether. Vasilevskiy's quality start percentage sits at 56.2% and he has 164 quality starts in his career. He has been a starter 292 games and has played 17,629 minutes. Vasilevskiy is sitting with a lifetime record of 190-83-19 and has been in net for 302 games. He has tallied 8,435 saves out of the 9,171 shots tried, giving him a percentage of .920.

Who will win tonight's NHL game against the spread?

Tony's Pick: Take Florida (+130)

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