Lightning vs. Flames Prediction
Two of the NHL’s hottest teams will face each other tonight as the Tampa Bay Lightning battle the host Calgary Flames. Will Calgary notch the win and continue its rise up the standings this month?
Game Snapshot
15 Tampa Bay Lightning at 16 Calgary Flames
Thursday, December 20, 2018
Scotiabank Saddledome at 9:05PM ET
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Public Betting Information
According to oddsmakers at BetNow.eu, the Lightning are a -118 favorite to win on the moneyline. The Flames are a +102 underdog, while the total is set at 6.5 goals. As of Thursday morning, 79 percent of public bets are pouring in on visiting Tampa Bay. Check out our NHL Public Betting Page for the latest info.
Lightning cruise ast Canucks
Tampa Bay jumped ahead early Tuesday night at Vancouver en route to a 5-2. With the win, the Lightning are now 26-7-2 on the season. Nikita Kucherov put Tampa Bay ahead in the first period with his 15th goal of the year on the power play with an assist going to Brayden Point. After the Canucks evened it up less than a minute later, the Lightning took the lead again on a strike from Cedric Paquette with Danick Martell and Adam Erne assisting. Erne scored the only goal of the second period on assists from Paquette and Dan Girardi to make it 3-1. Vancouver managed to cut its deficit to 3-2 in the third, but an insurance tally from Steven Stamkos pushed the score back to 4-2 with 2:38 remaining. The goal by Stamkos, his 17th of the season, was assisted by Tyler Johnson and Victor Hedman. Ondrej Palat added another goal with 1:43 left on the clock as Kucherov and Anton Stralman recorded assists. Andrei Vasilevskiy accounted for 36 saves on 38 shots in the winning effort.
Flames shut out at Stars
Calgary suffered a 2-0 defeat at Dallas Tuesday night as its three-game winning streak came to a close. The Stars scored once in the first period and added their second goal in the second period. The Flames (22-11-2) registered 24 shots on goal against two different goaltenders, but could not find the back of the net. Travis Hamonic paced Calgary with four shots on goal. Johnny Gaudreau, Mark Giordano and Noah Hanifin recorded three shots apiece. David Rittich made 26 saves on 28 shots in the defeat.
NHL Betting Trends
Tampa Bay
The road team is 4-0 in the last four meetings. The Lightning are 37-15 in their last 52 games overall.
Calgary
The Flames are 8-2 in their last 10 games overall. Calgary is 4-1 in its last five games versus the Eastern Conference.
Prediction:
Calgary has been on a tear this month and were only slowed down at the end of its road trip by Dallas, but should be up for this one back in front of the home fans. Against the NHL-best Lightning, the atmosphere should be awesome for this one. I like the way the Flames are looking and am on board with them at home as the small underdog. It’s time for a home team to notch a win in this series.
NHL DAILY PREDICTION: CALGARY FLAMES +102