Florida Panthers vs Tampa Bay Lightning: Game preview, predictions and odds

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The Florida Panthers are on the road to play the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday, April 15 at 7 p.m. ET.

Florida (47-30-4) is coming off a 5-3 loss to the Rangers. Tampa Bay (46-26-8) is coming off a 7-4 win over Buffalo.

Panthers vs Lightning: Head-to-head & key stats

  • Florida is 79-52-10-19 all-time against Tampa Bay
  • The Panthers are averaging 3.02 goals per game
  • Tampa Bay is 28-8-4 at home
  • Florida is allowing 2.69 goals per game
  • The Lightning are averaging 3.58 goals per game
  • The Panthers are 20-18-2 on the road
  • Tampa Bay is allowing 2.63 goals per game

Florida Panthers vs Tampa Bay Lightning: Preview

Florida will play its final game of the season here as they will go on the road to likely play the Lightning in the first round. The Panthers are expected to start Vitek Vanecek who’s 2-3-1 with a 2.66 GAA and a .900 SV% since being traded to Florida. In his career against the Lightning, he’s 1-4-2 with a 3.76 GAA and a .864 SV%.

The Panthers, meanwhile, are led by Sam Reinhart who has 81 points, Aleksandar Barkov has 71 points, Carter Verhaeghe has 52 points, and Sam Bennett has 51 points.

Tampa Bay, meanwhile, can still get first place in the Atlantic, but they need to win their final two games and Toronto has to lose its final two. The Lightning are led by Nikita Kucherov who has 119 points, Brandon Hagel has 90 points, Jake Guentzel has 79 points, Brayden Point has 79 points, and Victor Hedman has 64 points.

The Lightning will start Andrei Vasilevskiy who’s 37-20-5 with a 2.20 GAA and a .920 SV%. In his career against the Panthers, he’s 16-15-1 with a 3.06 GAA and a .910 SV%.

Panthers vs Lightning: Odds & Prediction

Florida is a +154 underdog while Tampa Bay is a -185 favorite, and the over/under is set at 5.5 goals.

The Panthers will likely rest players while Tampa Bay still has a slight chance at winning the division, so this is a good spot for the Lightning to get a big win at home.

Tampa Bay will be able to score against Vanecek, who has struggled at times while Vasilevskiy who will shut the door.

Prediction: Lightning 4, Panthers 1.

Panthers vs Lightning: Betting Tips

Tip 1: Tampa Bay ML (-185)

Tip 2: Under 5.5 goals (-105)

Tip 3: Brandon Hagel 3+ shots on goal (+125)