Free NHL Picks Today: Vegas Golden Knights vs Tampa Bay Lightning 2/18/23

The Tampa Bay Lightning (35-16-3) are on the road to take on the Vegas Golden Knights (33-18-4), who will be out to prolong their winning streak, at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday.

Tampa Bay is playing their last of four games on the road coming off a 1-0 shootout loss against the Coyotes on Wednesday, ending a streak of three wins in a row. The Lightning committed only two penalties in the game, holding Arizona without a power play goal.

Brian Elliott had 26 saves in the loss. Vegas won their fourth straight game, beating the Sharks 2-1 on Thursday. Paul Cotter and William Carrier each scored once for the Golden Knights. Adin Hill saved 25 of 26 shots in the win (.961%).

HEAD TO HEAD

The teams split their two meetings last season, the last of which was a 3-2 (SO) victory for the Golden Knights in January. Carrier and Brett Howden each had two points (1G 1A) to lead Vegas. Corey Perry led Tampa Bay with two points (1G 1A). Robin Lehner got the win, saving 27 of 29 shots (.931%).

FACING OFF

Tampa Bay is averaging 3.50 goals per game for the season, fifth in the NHL, and they are taking on a Golden Knights team that is allowing 2.76 goals a game (10th).

Meanwhile, Vegas has found the net 3.20 times a game on average, 15th in the league, and the Lightning are allowing opponents to score 2.87 goals per game (12th).

The Lightning’s 25.27% power play percentage is the third-best in the league, while the Golden Knights rank 18th with a conversion rate of 20.69%. When it comes to penalty killing, Tampa Bay has the league’s 12th-ranked PK% at 80.81%, while Vegas is 17th at 79.70%.

TOP PERFORMERS:

With 78 points this season, third-most in the NHL, Nikita Kucherov is the top skater for the Lightning. He leads the league with 57 assists and has added 21 goals of his own. In the net, Andrei Vasilevskiy (26-13-1) is Tampa Bay’s top goaltender.

He has a 2.53 GAA and a .920% save percentage.Chandler Stephenson leads the Golden Knights in scoring with 48 points. He has 12 goals and 36 assists. Hill (12-5-1) has the best goals against average for Vegas at 2.55. He has a save percentage of .909%.

Logan Thompson (20-13-3) has played the most games in net for the Golden Knights this season. He has a 2.66 GAA and a .914% save percentage.