Free NHL Picks Today: Tampa Bay Lightning vs Vegas Golden Knights 3/9/23

The Tampa Bay Lightning (38-21-5) welcome the Vegas Golden Knights (38-20-6) at Amalie Arena on Thursday. Vegas is coming off a 2-1 loss against the Panthers on Tuesday, their third consecutive defeat away from home.

The Golden Knights took advantage of their power play opportunities, scoring once on four shots while holding Florida without a power play goal. Shea Theodore was the only player to find the net for the Golden Knights.

Adin Hill saved an impressive 40 of 42 shots (.952%) in the loss. Tampa Bay beat the Flyers 5-2 on Tuesday. Nikita Kucherov and Alex Killorn both scored twice for the Lightning. Andrei Vasilevskiy saved 33 of 35 shots in the win (.942%).

HEAD TO HEAD

The Golden Knights won the first meeting between the teams this season, a 5-4 victory in February. Theodore led Vegas with three points (1G 2A). Four players had two points for Tampa Bay. Hill got the win despite allowing four goals on 24 shots (.833%).

FACING OFF

Vegas is averaging 3.12 goals per game for the season, 17th in the NHL, and they are taking on a Lightning team that is allowing 3.06 goals a game (15th).

Meanwhile, Tampa Bay has found the net 3.48 times a game on average, sixth in the league, and the Golden Knights are allowing opponents to score 2.75 goals per game (8th).

Power play opportunities should be plentiful for the Golden Knights, as the Lightning have been penalized 4.45 times a game, fourth-most in the NHL, for an average of 11.25 minutes (fifth-highest). The visitors are averaging 2.83 penalties and 6.34 penalty minutes a game, both of which are the lowest in the league.

The Lightning’s 26.22% power play percentage is the second-best in the league, while the Golden Knights rank 20th with a conversion rate of 20.00%. When it comes to defending power plays, Tampa Bay has the league’s 14th-ranked PK% at 80.10%, while Vegas is 15th at 79.87%.

TOP PERFORMERS:

With 50 and 49 points this season, Chandler Stephenson and Jack Eichel have been the top skaters for the Golden Knights. In the net, Hill (16-6-1) is Vegas’ top goaltender by goals against average. He has a 2.51 GAA and a .913% save percentage.

Logan Thompson (20-13-3) leads the Golden Knights in games played in goal. He has a GAA of 2.66 and a save percentage of .914%.

Kucherov leads the Lightning in scoring with 91 points (3rd in the league). He has 25 goals and 66 assists (2nd). Vasilevskiy (28-16-3) is the top goalie for Tampa Bay with a goals against average of 2.68. He has a save percentage of .915%.