The Tampa Bay Lightning (28-13-1) and their opportunistic power play offense head to take on the Vancouver Canucks (18-22-3), the league’s worst penalty killing team, at Rogers Arena on Wednesday.
Tampa Bay is coming off a 4-1 win over the Kraken on Monday, their fourth win in a row. Four players found the net for the Lightning. Brandon Hagel scored and provided an assist to lead the team in scoring.
Andrei Vasilevskiy had a great performance with 22 saves (.956%) in the win. Vancouver is playing the first of four games at home after a 4-3 shootout win over the Hurricanes on Sunday, breaking a four-game losing streak. Brock Boeser, Ethan Bear, and J.T. Miller scored one apiece for the Canucks. Andrei Kuzmenko had two assists to lead the team in scoring. Collin Delia saved 29 of 32 shots.
HEAD TO HEAD
The Lightning won the first meeting between the teams this season, a 5-4 victory on January 12, their fifth straight win against Vancouver. Six players had two points for Tampa Bay. Quinn Hughes led Vancouver with three points (1G 2A). Vasilevskiy got the win, saving 36 of 40 shots (.900%).
FACING OFF
Tampa Bay is averaging 3.60 goals per game for the season, fifth in the NHL. The visitors will be looking to improve on that figure against a Canucks team that is allowing 3.93 goals a game (30th).
Meanwhile, Vancouver has found the net 3.40 times a game on average, eighth in the league, and the Lightning are allowing opponents to score 2.88 goals per game (13th).
The Lightning will be seeking to build on their second-ranked power play percentage of 28.77% against the Canucks, who are the league’s weakest penalty killing team (66.67%). Vancouver, meanwhile, has scored on 23.81% of their power play opportunities (12th), which the hosts will be aiming to improve on against Tampa Bay’s ninth-ranked 81.75% penalty killing rate.
TOP PERFORMERS:
With 62 points this season, third-most in the NHL, Nikita Kucherov is the top skater for the Lightning. He is among the league leaders with 45 assists (2nd) and has added 17 goals of his own. In the net, Vasilevskiy (19-10-1) is Tampa Bay’s top goaltender. He has a 2.50 GAA and a .917% save percentage.
Elias Pettersson and Bo Horvat lead the Canucks in scoring with 52 and 48 points, respectively. Pettersson has 18 goals and 34 assists (10th) in 41 games, while Horvat has 30 goals (4th) and 18 assists (). Spencer Martin (11-10-1) has the best goals against average for Vancouver at 3.76. He has a save percentage of .880%.
HOME AND AWAY
Tampa Bay is 11-9-0 away from Amalie Arena this season. Vancouver is 8-10-1 at home this season.
SportsTips’ NHL Pick:
TB Lightning (-165)
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*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
