The Tampa Bay Lightning and the New Jersey Devils meet Thursday in NHL action from the Prudential Center. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Devils vs Lightning Prediction.
Tampa Bay Lightning Recap
The Tampa Bay Lightning come into this game looking to add on to their 6-1 win over Montreal last time out to improve to 17-11-2 this season. After this game, Tampa Bay will head on the road for a game against the New York Islanders.
Lightning Snap Four-Game Losing Skid
Nikita Kucherov leads the Lightning in scoring with 36 points including 13 goals and 23 assists while Brandon Hagel has 29 points with 17 goals and 12 assists and Jake Guentzel has 29 points with 14 goals and 15 assists. Victor Hedman has 12 assists and Anthony Cirelli has 18 points with 9 goals and 9 assists. Darren Raddysh has also added 20 points with 3 goals and 15 assists as well on the year. Andrei Vasilevskiy has gone 11-6-2 with a 2.31 GAA and a .917 save percentage while Jonas Johansson is 6-5 with a 2.53 GAA and a .907 save percentage this season.
Why the Tampa Bay Lightning will win
- The Devils have lost each of their last nine games as home underdogs against Atlantic Division opponents.
- The Lightning have won each of their last six Thursday games against the Devils.
- The Devils have failed to cover the puck line in each of their last 10 home games.
- The Lightning have covered the puck line in each of their last six road games against the Devils.
Tampa Bay Lightning Player Prop Facts
- Jake Guentzel has scored the last goal in three of his last four appearances with his team as a road favorite against the Devils.
- Oliver Bjorkstrand has recorded at least one point in each of his last six appearances with his team as a favorite against the Devils.
- Nikita Kucherov has recorded at least one assist in six of his last seven appearances with the Lightning as road favorites against Metropolitan Division opponents.
- Victor Hedman has scored at least one goal in four of his last five appearances against the Devils.
- Nikita Kucherov is the only player in the league to have recorded 2+ points in five or more consecutive appearances this season.
New Jersey Devils Recap
The New Jersey Devils come into this game looking to add on to their 4-3 win over Ottawa last time out to sit at 17-12-1 this season. After this game, New Jersey will head home for a game against the Anaheim Ducks.
Devils Snap Five-Game Slide
Jesper Bratt leads the Devils in scoring with 26 points including 5 goals and a team-high 21 assists while Jack Hughes has 20 points with 10 goals and 10 assists. Dawson Mercer has 21 points with 10 goals and 11 assists and Nico Hischier has 26 points with 10 goals and 16 assists this season. Timo Meier has 23 points with 11 goals and 12 assists while Simon Nemec has 16 points with 7 goals and 9 assists. Luke Hughes has 15 points with 14 assists and Arseny Gritsyuk has 16 points with 7 goals and 9 assists. Jake Allen has gone 8-6 with a 2.52 GAA and a .908 save percentage while Jacob Markstrom has gone 8-6-1 with a 3.48 GAA and an .880 save percentage and Nico Daws has 1-0 with a 1.00 GAA and a .968 save percentage this season.
Why the New Jersey Devils will win
- The underdogs have won six of the Devils’ last seven games.
- The Lightning have lost five of their last six games as road favorites following a road win.
- The underdogs have covered the puck line in 10 of the Devils’ last 11 games.
- The Lightning have failed to cover the puck line in seven of their last eight games as favorites following a road win.
New Jersey Devils Player Prop Facts
- Timo Meier has scored a goal in seven of the Devils’ last eight home games against Eastern Conference opponents.
- Jack Hughes has recorded at least one point in each of his last 10 Thursday appearances against Eastern Conference opponents.
- Jack Hughes has scored the first goal in three of his last four appearances with the Devils as home underdogs.
- Jack Hughes has recorded at least one assist in each of the Devils’ last seven home games against the Lightning.
- Connor Brown has scored two goals against the Lightning this season – most against any opponent.
Total Goals Facts
- Each of the Lightning’s last four road games following a road win have gone UNDER the total goals line.
- Five of the Devils’ last six night games against Eastern Conference opponents have gone OVER the total goals line.
Devils vs Lightning Prediction
I’m on the Devils in this one. I just don’t love the current state of affairs for Tampa Bay right now with Andrei Vasilevskiy on the shelf, as a lot of Tampa Bay’s success over the years has been because of their goaltender. Jonas Johansson is a capable backup, but at the end of the day, he’s still a backup, and the Devils still have their full arsenal good to go here. I just think that we’ll see a similar situation to what we’re seeing in Winnipeg for Tampa Bay, where the long term absence of your #1 goalie is going to do some damage to your record. It’s just a matter of coming back from it down the road. I think New Jersey gets the job done at home here. Give me New Jersey.