Tampa Bay Lightning vs Florida Panthers Prediction, 4/21/2024 NHL Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Tampa Bay Lightning vs Florida Panthers

Date: Sunday, April 21, 2024

Location: Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, FL

TV: ESPN

Odds/Point Spread: Lightning (+140) Panthers (-170)

The Tampa Bay Lightning (45-29-8) are traveling to Amerant Bank Arena on Sunday where they will take on the Florida Panthers (52-24-6) in Game 1 of their 1st round series. The odds on this game have the Lightning at +140 while the Panthers are sitting at -170. The over/under is set at 7.

The Tampa Bay Lightning will head into their next game feeling good after earning a 6-4 win over the Maple Leafs their last time out. Tampa Bay accumulated 8 minutes in the box for this contest. Additionally, they had 4 power play chances and scored 1 goal. The Lightning had a solid offensive output in the victory. While out there on the ice, they earned a goal on 6 of the 32 shots they put on net.

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Tampa Bay Lightning opponents have tallied 234 power play tries (24th in the NHL) and have come away with 39 goals in those attempts. The Lightning have had 2,430 shots taken against them and hold a save percentage of .890. Tampa Bay has tried 2,401 shots and has a shooting percentage of 12.0%. At even strength, the Lightning let the opposition score 228 goals while having 217 on offense. Tampa Bay has tallied 248 power play opportunities and they have notched 71 goals out of those attempts, giving them a percentage of 28.63%. For the current campaign, they have tallied 98 points and their points percentage comes in at .598. In regard to their scoring, the Tampa Bay Lightning have earned 288 goals (5th in the National Hockey League) on the year and have given up 267.

The player guarding the cage in this matchup is Andrei Vasilevskiy. The opposition has scored 1,199 goals versus Vasilevskiy in his professional career and his goals against rate is 2.56. Vasilevskiy has been involved in 477 games over the course of his NHL career. His save percentage is at .917 during his 28,049 minutes guarding the cage. He has earned a win-loss mark of 293-143-30 and he started in 467 games. For his professional hockey career, Vasilevskiy is sitting with 265 quality starts and his quality starts rate sits at .567. Vasilevskiy has had 14,391 shot attempts against him and has gathered 13,192 saves.

In their last outing, Florida played the Maple Leafs in a game where the Panthers took home the win by a tally of 5-2. They had 6 opportunities on the power play in this one but weren't able to score a goal. The Panthers scored 5 goals out of the 42 shots on goal they took.

For the year, the Florida Panthers have tallied 265 goals, 110 points, as well as a points percentage of .671. They have permitted 198 goals to be scored by of a combination of 147 goals at even strength and 51 goals while they had less men on the ice. The Panthers have 202 goals at even strength and 63 goals (5th in the league) while on the power play. They have earned 268 chances on the power play and they have accumulated a power play rate of 23.51%. Florida has put up 2,764 shots (2nd in the NHL) and has earned a shot percentage of 9.59%, while allowing their opponents 2,279 shots. They have recorded a penalty kill percentage of 82.47% on their oppositions 291 power play tries, and their save percentage comes in at 91.3%.

For the opposition you will find Sergei Bobrovsky in net. He has racked up 18,681 saves out of the 20,419 shots attempted against him, giving him a save % of .915. Bobrovsky holds a lifetime mark of 396-224-55 and has been in net for 700 contests. He got the starting nod in 684 games and has played 40,323 minutes. Bobrovsky's quality start rate comes out to 57.9% and he has accumulated 396 quality starting assignments in his NHL career. His opposition is averaging 2.59 goals/game and he has conceded 1,738 goals in total.

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

Josh's Pick: Take Tampa Bay (+140)

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