The Tampa Bay Lightning (35-17-3) and their opportunistic power play offense play host to the Anaheim Ducks (17-33-7), one of the NHL’s worst penalty killing teams, at Amalie Arena on Tuesday.
Anaheim is playing the second of a back-to-back after suffering a 4-3 overtime loss against the Panthers yesterday, their fifth straight defeat. The Ducks committed four penalties in the game, though they held Florida without a power play goal. Dmitry Kulikov, Frank Vatrano, and Mason McTavish scored one apiece for the Ducks.
Kulikov added an assist to share the scoring lead with John Klingberg, who had two assists. John Gibson saved an impressive 51 of 55 shots (.927%) in the loss.
Tampa Bay fell 5-4 to the Golden Knights on Saturday. Four players found the net for the Lightning. Andrei Vasilevskiy saved only 21 of 25 shots against (.840%) in the loss.
HEAD TO HEAD
The Lightning won the first meeting between the teams this season, a 4-2 victory in October. Nicholas Paul (1G 1A), Mikhail Sergachev (1G 1A), and Victor Hedman (0G 2A) each had two points to lead Tampa Bay. Troy Terry led Anaheim with two points (1G 1A). Brian Elliott got the win, saving 19 of 21 shots (.904%).
FACING OFF
Anaheim is averaging 2.47 goals per game for the season, 31st in the NHL, and they are taking on a Lightning team that is allowing 2.91 goals a game (13th).
Meanwhile, Tampa Bay has found the net 3.51 times a game on average, fifth in the league, and will be looking to capitalize on the Ducks’ weak defense, which is allowing opponents to score a league-worst 4.16 goals per game.
Expect a few power play opportunities for the Lightning, as the Ducks are averaging 4.63 penalties per game, second-most in the NHL. The visitors’ 11.72 penalty minutes a game ranks fourth-highest. The home team has been penalized 4.47 times a game (7th) for an average of 11.22 minutes (5th).
The Lightning will be looking to build on their fifth-ranked power play percentage of 25.40% against the Ducks, who are the league’s fourth-weakest penalty killing team (73.23%).
Anaheim, meanwhile, has scored on only 15.95% of their power play opportunities (32nd), which the visitors will be aiming to improve on against Tampa Bay’s 12th-ranked 81.03% penalty killing rate.
TOP PERFORMERS:
With 47 points this season, Trevor Zegras is the top skater for the Ducks. He has 19 goals and 28 assists in 57 games. In the net, Anthony Stolarz (5-6-0) is Anaheim’s top goaltender.
He has a 3.73 GAA and a .897% save percentage. Nikita Kucherov leads the Lightning in scoring with 79 points (3rd in the league). He has 21 goals and 58 assists (2nd) in 55 games. Vasilevskiy (26-14-1) is the top goalie for Tampa Bay with a goals against average of 2.56. He has a save percentage of .918%.
HOME AND AWAY
Anaheim is 8-17-6 on the road this season. Tampa Bay is 21-4-2 at home this season. Meanwhile, the Ducks are 1-6 without a day off and 1-4 playing with a rest disadvantage. The Lightning are 2-1 with a rest advantage.
SportsTips’ NHL Pick:
TB Lightning -2.5 (-115)
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*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
