Canadian Tire Centre will be hosting an enticing matchup as the Tampa Bay Lightning come into town to face the Ottawa Senators. The action will get going at 7 p.m. ET on Sunday, November 4, and you will be able to view this Atlantic Division matchup live on Sportsnet.
Tampa Bay Lightning at Ottawa Senators Odds
Tampa Bay is 9-4 straight up (SU) and has netted 1.3 units for moneyline bettors this year. Seven of its matches have gone under the total, while five have gone over and none have pushed. The Bolts are 4-2 SU on the road in 2018-19.
Tampa Bay has scored on 26.1 percent of its power play opportunities so far. That mark hasn’t moved too much from last year, when it was ranked fourth in the NHL by converting on 24.8 percent of its extra-man advantages. Its penalty kill has gotten stronger since last year, as the team’s gone from successfully defending 75.9 percent of opponents’ power plays (ranked 28th overall last season) to 93.9 percent this year.
For the team as a whole, Tampa Bay has been penalized 4.1 times per game in the 2018-19 season. Last year, that number was the fifth-highest mark in the league at 4.1 penalties per game. After serving an average of 9.6 penalty minutes per game a season ago the team has been forced to stave off opponent power plays for 8.9 minutes per outing this year.
With a .935 save percentage and 28.6 saves per game, Andrei Vasilevskiy (7-3-1) has been the primary option in goal for Tampa Bay this season. Vasilevskiy did just play last night, however, so head coach Jon Cooper might choose to rest him and instead turn to Louis Domingue (2-1 record, .887 save percentage, 4.00 goals against average).
Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov will both lead the offensive attack for the visiting Lightning. Point has 15 points on seven goals and eight assists, and has recorded two or more points in three different games. Kucherov has five goals and nine assists to his credit (and has notched at least one point in eight games).
On the other side of the ice, Ottawa is 5-8 straight up (SU) and has earned 0.4 units for moneyline bettors this season. Eight of its games have gone over the total, while two have gone under and two have pushed. This season, the team’s 4-3 SU as the home team.
Ottawa has converted on 24.4 percent of its power play chances this year, a mark that’s right around league average. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 30th overall, and it’s successfully killed off 68.9 percent of all penalties.
Ottawa players have been whistled for penalties 4.2 times per game this season, a number that has climbed some from the 3.5 penalties per game given up last year. After serving an average of 8.1 penalty minutes per game a year ago, the team has been forced to stave off opponent power plays for 9.9 minutes per outing this season.
Craig Anderson (32.6 saves per game) has been the primary choice in goal for Ottawa. Anderson has five wins, seven losses, and two overtime losses to his name and has maintained a poor .909 save percentage and 3.54 goals against average this year.
The home team will be led on offense by Thomas Chabot (three goals, 13 assists).
Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Ottawa Senators Betting Predictions
Pick: SU Winner – Senators, O/U – Over
Betting Trends
- For both of these teams, the over has hit in three of their past five games.
- The Lightning are 7-0 SU in games where they serve more penalty minutes than their opponent while the Senators are 2-3 SU when they spend more time in the box than their opponent.
- After posting a 6-2 record in games decided by a shootout last year, Tampa Bay is off to a 1-0 start in shootouts this season. Ottawa went 2-7 in shootouts last year and has yet to participate in one this time around.
