Two of the leagues best at scoring on the power play, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Vancouver Canucks clash at Rogers Arena in a cross-continent matchup. The first puck will drop at 10 p.m. ET on Saturday, February 3, and fans at home will be able to witness it live on CBC Sports.
Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Vancouver Canucks Odds
Tampa Bay heads into the game as the obvious favorite with a -160 moneyline. The line for Vancouver sits at +140 and the oddsmakers have set the Over/Under (O/U) at 6 goals. The line for betting that total stands at -110 money on the over and -110 for the under.
Tampa Bay is 35-16 straight up (SU) and has earned moneyline bettors 10.9 units this year. 30 of its matches have gone over the total, while 21 have gone under and none have pushed. The Bolts are 18-10 SU as the road team in 2017-18.
Tampa Bay has converted on 23.3 percent of its power play opportunities this season, a mark that’s good enough for fourth-best in the league. Its penalty kill is ranked 23rd in the league, and it’s successfully killed off 78.7 percent of its penalties.
Tampa Bay, as a collective unit, has been whistled for penalties 4.1 times per game overall this season, 4.2 per game over its past five total, and 4.2 per game over its last five road outings. The team has been forced to kill penalties 9.6 minutes per contest over their last five road games.
Averaging 29.2 saves per game with a .930 save percentage, Andrei Vasilevskiy (30-12-2) has been the best option in goal for Tampa Bay this season. If head coach Jon Cooper chooses to rest him, however, Tampa Bay may roll with Louis Domingue (2-8), who has a .880 save percentage and 3.81 goals against average this year.
The visiting Lightning have relied on Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos heavily this season. Kucherov has 64 points on 27 goals and 37 assists, and has recorded multiple points 21 times. Stamkos has 19 goals and 40 assists to his creditand has logged a point in 34 games.
Over on the other bench, Vancouver is 21-30 straight up (SU) and has lost 3.5 units for moneyline bettors this year. 29 of its outings have gone over the total, while 22 have gone under and none have pushed. This year, the team is 10-16 SU at home.
Vancouver has converted on 21.9 percent of its power play opportunities this year, a mark that’s good enough for seventh-best in the league. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 25th overall, and it’s successfully killed off 78.2 percent of all opponent power plays.
Vancouver players have been sent to the penalty box 3.8 times per game in total this season, and 3.2 per game over their past ten contests. The team has been forced to defend opponent power plays just 6.7 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
Jacob Markstrom (26.3 saves per game) has been the primary choice in goal for Vancouver. Markstrom has 15 wins, 23 losses, and five OT losses and has recorded a mediocre 2.73 goals against average and a subpar .908 save percentage this season.
The Nucks will be led on offense by Brock Boeser (24 goals, 20 assists).
Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Vancouver Canucks Free Picks
Pick: SU Winner – Lightning, O/U – Under
Betting Notes
- The total has gone over in three of Vancouver’s last five outings.
- The Lightning are 20-8 in games where they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent and 19-9 when they’re in the box for fewer than 10 penalty minutes, total.
- Tampa Bay is 2-2 in games decided by a shootout this season while Vancouver is 0-3 in shootouts.
- Vancouver has managed 6.4 takeaways per game over its last five home games, a slight drop from its season average of 5.9 takeaways per game (ranked 28th).
- Tampa Bay has created 8.0 takeaways per game over its last five road games, an improvement over its season average of 7.3 takeaways per game (ranked 17th in the league).
- Tampa Bay might hold the upper hand if this one comes down to the wire. The teams an impressive 13-6 in one-goal games, while Vancouver is 7-10 in such games.
