The Tampa Bay Lightning and the New York Rangers meet to drop the puck on the new season on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden. The teams last met in last season’s Eastern Conference Finals when the Lightning secured their place in the Stanley Cup Final with a 2-1 win (4-2 series), their fourth straight win against New York.
FACING OFF
Tampa Bay averaged 3.48 goals per game last season, seventh in the NHL, and they are taking on a Rangers team that allowed 2.49 goals a game (2nd). Meanwhile, New York found the net 3.05 times a game on average, 16th in the league, and the Lightning allowed opponents to score 2.78 goals per game (6th). The Lightning converted 23.94% of their power play opportunities (8th), while New York’s 82.30% penalty kill percentage ranked seventh. The Rangers scored on 25.23% of their power play chances, fourth-most in the NHL. Tampa Bay’s PK% of 80.56 ranked No. 11.
LAST SEASON’S TOP PERFORMERS:
With 106 points last season, seventh-most in the NHL, Steven Stamkos was the top skater for the Lightning. He was among the league leaders in both goals and assists, finding the net 42 times (9th) and assisting 64 scores for this teammates (9th). In the net, Andrei Vasilevskiy (39-18-5) was Tampa Bay’s top goaltender. He had a 2.49 GAA and a .916% save percentage. Artemi Panarin led the Rangers in scoring a season ago with 96 points. His 74 assists were the fourth-best total in the league. He also had 22 goals of his own. Igor Shesterkin (36-13-4) was the top goaltender for New York with a GAA of 2.07, best in the league. He had a save percentage of .935%, also best.
SportsTips’ NHL Pick:
TB Lightning (+100)
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*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
