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Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Tampa Bay Lightning Free Picks & NHL Preview

Penguins vs Lightning NHL Spread/Handicapping

The Pittsburgh Penguins, in true championship style keep getting it done despite the absence of key players up and down their lineup. On Thursday night, the Pens will be without Sidney Crosby, James Neal and Paul Martin when they travel to Tampa Bay to take on a Lightning team that has gone 5-0-1 in their last six home games.

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Pittsburgh Penguins (20-10-0-0) at Tampa Bay Lightning (17-20-0-2)
When: 7:30 PM ET, Thursday, April 11, 2013
Where: Tampa Bay Times Forum, Tampa, Florida
Broadcast: TSN, NBCSN, ROOT
Pens vs. Lightning Betting Lines from betonline.com
Pittsburgh Penguins -1½ +215 -131 Ov 5½ -119
Tampa Bay Lightning +1½ -255 +119 Un 5½ +108

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Headline: Suddenly Hot Lightning Host Banged-Up Penguins

Rumors are that Kris Letang could return for the Pens after a lower body injury sidelined him since March 26 however. The Penguins have won both meetings between the two clubs this season in regulation but the Lightning are a desperate club – out of the playoff picture and looking to continue a torrid home stretch in order to just qualify for the post season.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have won two straight games ahead of Thursday night’s contest despite the absence of a number of their top dogs. They have already locked up the Atlantic Division and at least the #2 seed in the East so a letdown could reasonably be imminent.

The trade deadline brought in some more-than-capable depth for Pittsburgh to absorb some of the minutes lost when Crosby Neal, Martin and Letang went down. Both Jarome Iginla and Brenden Morrow recorded a point in Tuesday night’s win over Carolina. The Pens will need these stars to remain at the forefront until the team gets healthy before what is hoped to be a long playoff run.

Pascal Dupuis has four points in two games; newcomer Jussi Jokinen has two points in two games as does Craig Adams. With Evgeni Malkin, Iginla and Morrow, there is no reason to expect an enormous drop-off in offense for the Beast of the East. Evgeni Malkin has nine goals and four assists over his past four matchups with the Lightning, while Letang has seven points in his last four against them.

The Pens remain one of the premier offensive teams in the NHL with an average of 3.22 goals per game and seemingly have new heroes each and every night lately. [ad-4437448]

Defensively Pittsburgh has been very good this season (2.45 goals per game allowed this season) and they will need to be against a Tampa Bay team that has also been a top third offensive unit all season long. Thomas Vokoun is 6-1-0 with a 1.25 GAA in his last seven starts and Marc-Andre Fleury is 7-1-0 with a 1.55 GAA in his last eight.

The Tampa Bay Lightning would love to be able to erase the middle part of their season – lately they have resembled the team that started the season Hot! Tampa went 1-2-0 during a recent three game road trip but they have been terrific on home ice as of late. They have a ton of work to do in order to put their name in the playoff picture but this team has some talent and could reasonably emerge.

Offensively the Lightning are right behind the Penguins – averaging 3.15 goals per game this year. Martin St. Louis recorded his 900th NHL point on Monday and is third in the League in scoring this season with 49 points (nine goals, 40 assists). He has a goal and five assists in the past four games, Matt Carle has five points in four games and Benoit Pouliot has three points in three games.

Steven Stamkos has totaled three goals and two assists in this season’s two matchups with the Penguins. He trails the injured Crosby by six points for the NHL points lead, and Martin St. Louis is seven back.

Defense has been another story for Tampa Bay – they have allowed 2.92 goals per game this year. But the addition of goaltender Ben Bishop at the deadline seems to have sparked this team in their own zone.

Bishop has been a stabilizing force and is 10-7-0 this year with an OK 2.35 GAA and good .928 save % age.

Betting Prediction

A few trends to consider:

Under is 11-2-1 in PIT last 14 overall.
Over is 24-9-2 in PIT last 35 road games.
PIT are 50-19 in their last 69 overall.
TB are 3-15 in their last 18 Thu. games.
TB are 2-7 in their last 9 games following a win.
TB are 3-9 in their last 12 vs. Atlantic.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have all the talent in the world to step up in place of the injured stars. The Pens are as business-like a team as there is in the game today. The Lightning have been hot at home but will be overmatched Thursday night. The Penguins domination of the Lightning continues!

Pick: Pittsburgh Penguins -131

By DaveB

Dave B has been a Fantasy Football writer for us for 10 years. A couch potato wannabe, Dave’s insights have been read by 10’s of people for years. He hope’s for world peace + global relaxation. Enjoy and remember only smoke things that are completely natural.