The Tampa Bay Lightning (33-16-2) and their explosive offense are on the road to face the Dallas Stars (30-13-10) and their suffocating defense at American Airlines Center on Saturday. Tampa Bay is embarking on a four-game road trip coming off a 5-0 win over the Avalanche on Thursday.
The Lightning committed four penalties in the game, though they held Colorado without a power play goal. Brandon Hagel was the top goalscorer for the Lightning with two goals.
Andrei Vasilevskiy earned his zeroth shutout of the season with an impressive 30 saves. Dallas beat the Wild 4-1 on Wednesday. Four players found the net for the Stars.
Roope Hintz scored and provided an assist to share the scoring lead with Jason Robertson, who had two assists. Jake Oettinger saved 38 of 39 shots in the win (.974%).
HEAD TO HEAD
The Lightning won the first meeting between the teams this season, a 5-4 (OT) victory in November. Alex Killorn led Tampa Bay with three points (1G 2A).
Joe Pavelski (1G 1A), Robertson (1G 1A), and Miro Heiskanen (0G 2A) each had two points to lead Dallas. Brian Elliott got the win despite allowing four goals on 32 shots (.875%).
FACING OFF
Tampa Bay is averaging 3.59 goals per game for the season, fourth in the NHL. The visitors will face a difficult challenge against a Stars team that is allowing only 2.53 goals a game (2nd).
Meanwhile, Dallas has found the net 3.36 times a game on average, 10th in the league, and the Lightning are allowing opponents to score 2.96 goals per game (14th).
Don’t be surprised to see a few power play opportunities for the Stars, as the Lightning are averaging 4.57 penalties per game, third-most in the NHL. The visitors’ 11.53 penalty minutes a game ranks fifth-highest.
The home team has been penalized 3.83 times a game (15th) for an average of 9.02 minutes (14th). The Lightning’s third-ranked power play offense (26.70%) will face a tough test against the Stars, who are the league’s second-best penalty killing team (83.62%).
Dallas, meanwhile, has scored on 24.84% of their power play opportunities (7th), which the home team will be aiming to build on against Tampa Bay’s 16th-ranked 79.88% penalty killing rate.
TOP PERFORMERS:
With 76 points this season, third-most in the NHL, Nikita Kucherov is the top skater for the Lightning. He leads the league with 56 assists and has added 20 goals of his own.
In the net, Vasilevskiy (23-13-1) is Tampa Bay’s top goaltender. He has a 2.63 GAA and a .916% save percentage. Robertson leads the Stars in scoring with 69 points (6th in the league). He has 33 goals (6th in the league) and 36 assists.
Oettinger (23-7-7) has the best goals against average for Dallas at 2.22, second-best in the league. He has a save percentage of .926%, third-best.
HOME AND AWAY
Tampa Bay is looking to avoid a fourth consecutive road defeat this season. Dallas is 15-5-6 at home this season.
SportsTips’ NHL Pick:
Dallas Stars (-115)
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*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
