New York Islanders vs. Tampa Bay Lightning NHL Picks, Odds, Predictions 6/13/2021

The New York Islanders and the Tampa Bay Lightning meet in NHL action fro the Amalie Arena in game one of their Stanley Cup semi-final series in NHL action on Sunday afternoon.

The New York Islanders booked their spot in the semis after taking out the Boston Bruins in six games following a 6-2 win in the series-clincher last time out. J-G Pageau leads the Islanders in scoring in the postseason with 13 points including 3 goals and a team-leading 10 assists while Josh Bailey and Anthony Beauvillier each have 11 points with Bailey logging 4 goals and Beauvillier logging 7 assists. Brock Nelson has 10 points with 6 goals and Kyle Palmieri and Mathew Barzal each have 9 points with Palmieri logging a team-high 7 goals this season. Ilya Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov each have four wins this postseason, with Sorokin posting a .934 save percentage and 2.32 GAA while Varlamov has a .925 save percentage and a 2.62 GAA this postseason.

The Tampa Bay Lightning booked their spot in the semifinals after a series win over the division-winning Carolina Hurricanes following a 2-0 win over the ‘Canes in the series-clincher. Nikita Kucherov leads the Bolts with 18 points including 5 goals and a team-leading 13 assists while Steven Stamkos has 13 points with 5 goals and 8 apples. Brayden Point and Alex Killorn each have 12 points with Point logging a team-best 8 goals while Killorn’s split between 6 goals and 6 assists. Victor Hedman also has 11 assists for the Lightning this postseason. Andrei Vasilevskiy has taken the crease in all 11 of Tampa Bay’s playoff games this season, going 8-3 with a .934 save percentage and a 2.24 GAA this postseason.

New York is 4-1 in their last 5 games overall and 4-1 in their last 5 playoff games as an underdog while the over is 5-1-1 in their last 7 games against a team with a winning record. Tampa Bay is 19-7 in their last 26 playoff games as a favorite and 45-18 in their last 63 home games while the over is 5-2 in their last 7 games as a home favorite. New York is 6-16 in the last 22 meetings between these two teams and 3-8 in the last 11 meetings between these two teams in Tampa Bay.

This is a tough series to call as both teams have looked really good in reaching the cup semi-finals and both have the ability to play both styles of hockey, high-scoring and tight, defensive battles. With that said, I’m going to lean towards the over here. The Islanders really showed off some offensive prowess against the Bruins and the Lightning have tons of talent offensively as well. The goaltending’s had their moments, but I think game one belongs to the offense. Give me the over.