Free NHL Hockey Prediction: Lightning vs Panthers NHL Odds
Looking for Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Florida Panthers free hockey plays & NHL Odds? NHL betting sees the Lightning taking on the Panthers on Thursday February 11th at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida. Cappers Picks provides complimentary expert handicapping picks on all NHL Hockey games all season long so stay tuned for more FREE daily NHL hockey predictions like this Lightning Panthers matchup.
NHL Handicapping Analysis
(9-1-1) Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Florida Panthers (7-1-2)
Date: Thursday, February 11th
Time: 7:00 PM ET
Venue: BB&T Center, Sunrise FL
NHL Hockey Moneyline Odds: Lightning -170| Panthers +150
NHL Hockey Puck Line Odds: Lightning -1.5 (+145)
NHL Betting Total: 6
Two teams that have fired out of the gates to start the 2021 season meet up Thursday night at the BB&T Center. Tampa Bay and Florida have just two regulation losses between them, making them the top two teams in the Central.
Tampa Bay is especially red hot right now, winners of six straight. They have shown no championship hangover in racking up 19 points, 2nd only to Toronto. The Panthers are right behind them with 16 points however.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Per usual, the Lightning are getting things done on both ends of the ice. Even with Nikita Kucherov sidelined most of the regular season with a hip injury, TB is still a top 5 scoring team putting up 3.6 goals/game.
In Kucherov’s absence, Steven Stamkos is carrying the scoring load just like the old days with a team leading 7 goals to go along with 7 assists. Stamkos was great against Nashville on Tuesday with 2 scores and a helper.
Brayden Point is doing like his name says and scoring at will. The center has scored a point in 9 of the last 10, and with Victor Hedman (10 points last 10 games), opponents are going to need 3+ goals to stay competitive.
Of course scoring against Andrei Vasilevskiy is easier said than done. The ironman has started all but one game so far this year, and has allowed just 1 goal in each of his last three starts. TB’s defense is ranked 2nd in the NHL in goals against.
Florida Panthers
Florida doesn’t look great right now, despite their position in the Central. The Panthers have played Detroit in 4 of the last six games, losing one of those, going into OT in another, and winning the other two by just a goal.
Points are points in the NHL however, and the Panthers also have an OT loss to Nashville followed by a win over the Predators in the second game over that recent 6-game stretch.
What’s worrisome in backing Florida on Thursday is that they really don’t do anything overly spectacular. The Panthers are 13th in goals scored and 14th in goals against.
Florida does have two competent scorers in Carter Verhaeghe and Patric Hornqvist who have both netted six goals this year. The combination of Sergei Bobrovsky (4-1, 3.07 GAA) and Chris Driedger (3-1, 1.97 GAA) have a challenge on Thursday however.
NHL Betting Trends:
- Lightning are 6-0 last 6
- Lightning are 53-19 last 72 overall
- Panthers are 7-3 last 10 overall
- Panthers are 1-4 last 5 as a home underdog
- Under is 6-1 in Panthers last 7 overall
- Lightning are 4-1 last 5 at Florida
- Over is 5-1 last 6 at Florida
Free Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Florida Panthers NHL Prediction:
The -170 price tag is up there for Tampa, but it could also be argued that line has value after TB was a -300 favorite in two games vs. Detroit – both wins. TB has covered five straight puck lines, so they know how to blow out teams.
Tampa Bay has won 9 of the last 10 in this matchup. They’ll likely be victorious, but can they get that extra score to provide the real ROI? Things are looking good.
4* Free NHL Betting Pick: Lightning +1.5 (+145)
Bobrovsky will go in net for Florida, and while his record is solid, that GAA above 3 isn’t good vs. the Tampa Bay offense.
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