The Chicago Blackhawks and Tampa Bay Lightning meet Wednesday in NHL action at the Amalie Arena.

The Chicago Blackhawks were a team that looked nothing like what we’re used to seeing last season, but that didn’t stop them from sending the Oilers home in the playoff bubble. The Blackhawks showed flashes last season and are a team that could surprise on a good day, but this season could be filled with pure pain. The Blackhawks said goodbye to Corey Crawford in free agency, and they’ll begin the season with injuries to Kirby Dach, Alex Nylander and Jonathan Toews. The goalie situation for the Blackhawks is a mess right now, and their best case scenario is likely getting what they can get for the proven players and stockpiling draft picks. Blackhawks fans aren’t used to this, but this should be a rebuild season with a lot of losing.

The Tampa Bay Lightning are fresh off winning other Stanley Cup and are considered by many to be the team to beat yet again. Losing Nikita Kucherov to hip surgery does hurt the Lightning at least in the regular season, but this is a deep squad that will have a full year of Steven Stamkos, the best defenseman in Victor Hedman and one of the top goalies in the game in Andrei Vasilevskiy. The Tampa Bay Lightning check all of the boxes when it comes to a contender and they will make bettors a lot of money this regular season. However, there’s only been three repeat champs in the last 30 years, so there is value elsewhere when it comes to future bets.

The Blackhawks are 0-4 in their last 4 road games and 1-4 in their last 5 overall. The Lightning are 99-45 in their last 144 home games and 44-17 in their last 61 overall. The over is 4-1 in Blackhawks last 5 road games. The under is 2-0-3 in Lightning last 5 home games. The Blackhawks are 1-4 in the last 5 meetings in Tampa Bay and 1-8 in the last 9 meetings.

The Chicago Blackhawks are going to have a very painful season with the pieces that left this offseason and all of the key players injured. The Blackhawks are heading toward a rebuild and are going to have issues winning games. The Tampa Bay Lightning could come out flat due to the pregame celebration and what not, but they’re still lightyears the better team here. I’ll back the Lightning at home and lay the PL for added value.