Penguins vs. Lightning
Are the Pittsburgh Penguins going to upset the host Tampa Bay Lightning Thursday night? The puck drops at 7:30PM EST.
According to oddsmakers at Bovada.lv, the Lightning are a -145 favorite to win on the moneyline. The Penguins are a +125 underdog and the over-under is 6.
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Pittsburgh is now 2-1-1 after a 3-2 win at the Capitals Wednesday night. Tampa Bay enters at 2-1-0 after it also beat Washington by a count of 4-3 in overtime on Monday. The Penguins won all three meetings last season by scores of 4-3, 6-2 and 5-2. The total went over all three games and is 7-2-1 in the last 10 games between the two teams.
On Wednesday, Pittsburgh was led by Patric Hornqvist as he tallied a goal and an assist. Kris Letang and Conor Sheary each had a goal. Matt Murray made 20 saves to pick up the win.
Tampa Bay overcame a two-goal deficit to defeat the Capitals. Brad Killorn, Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point all had a goal and an assist. Chris Kunitz also had a goal, while Anton Stralman notched two assists. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 23 saves between the pipes to get the win.
The Penguins are on a back-to-back, so chances are Antti Niemi will be in goal for this one. He was awful in his Pittsburgh debut back on Oct. 5 at Chicago as he allowed four goals on 13 shots before before being yanked in a 10-1 shellacking. He’ll look to be much better if he draws the start, but if the Penguins are lagging around him it won’t matter much. Make the smart play with the Lightning at home.
NHL DAILY PREDICTION: TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING -145