Free NHL Picks Today: Tampa Bay Lightning vs Florida Panthers 2/28/23

The Florida Panthers (29-26-6) head to face the Tampa Bay Lightning (37-18-4) at Amalie Arena on Tuesday. Florida is coming off a 3-1 loss against the Sabres on Friday. The Panthers committed four penalties in the game, conceding one power play goal.

Carter Verhaeghe was the only player to find the net for the Panthers. Sergei Bobrovsky only had 30 saves on 33 shots against (.909%) in the loss.

Tampa Bay fell 7-3 to the Penguins on Sunday. Brayden Point, Nikita Kucherov, and Anthony Cirelli scored one apiece for the Lightning. Point and Kucherov both added an assist to lead the team in scoring. Brian Elliott only had 29 saves on 36 shots against (.805%) in the loss.

HEAD TO HEAD

The Lightning have won two of the three games between the teams this season, although the Panthers were 7-1 victors in their most recent meeting on February 6.

Matthew Tkachuk led Florida with five points (2G 3A). Kucherov scored Tampa Bay’s only goal. Bobrovsky got the win, saving 32 of 33 shots (.969%).

FACING OFF

Florida is averaging 3.41 goals per game for the season, eighth in the NHL, and they are taking on a Lightning team that is allowing 2.95 goals a game (12th).

Meanwhile, Tampa Bay has found the net 3.56 times a game on average, fourth in the league, and the Panthers are allowing opponents to score 3.48 goals per game (23rd).

Florida averages more shots per game (36.3) than any other team in the league, though the team’s 9.5% shooting percentage ranks 25th. Tampa Bay’s average of 32.3 attempts ranks 12th.

Expect multiple power play opportunities for the Lightning, as the Panthers are averaging 4.79 penalties per game, most in the NHL. The visitors’ 11.98 penalty minutes a game ranks third-highest.

The home team has been penalized 4.42 times a game (6th) for an average of 11.20 minutes (5th). The Lightning’s 25.74% power play percentage is the second-best in the league, while the Panthers rank 16th with a conversion rate of 21.15%. When it comes to penalty killing, Tampa Bay has the league’s 13th-ranked PK% at 81.18%, while Florida is 27th at 74.09%.

TOP PERFORMERS:

With 78 points this season, sixth-most in the NHL, Tkachuk is the top skater for the Panthers. He is among the league leaders with 50 assists (6th) and has added 28 goals of his own. In the net, Bobrovsky (17-16-2) is Florida’s top goaltender by goals against average.

He has a 3.12 GAA and a .902% save percentage. Kucherov leads the Lightning in scoring with 85 points (3rd in the league). He has 23 goals and 62 assists (2nd).

Andrei Vasilevskiy (28-14-2) is the top goalie for Tampa Bay with a goals against average of 2.55. He has a save percentage of .919%.