Arizona Coyotes (13-16-5) vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (22-11-1)
December 31, 2022 5:00 pm EDT
The Line: Tampa Bay Lightning -400 / Arizona Coyotes +295; Over/Under: +6
(Get latest betting odds)
The Arizona Coyotes and the Tampa Bay Lightning meet in NHL action from the Amalie Arena on Saturday afternoon.
The Arizona Coyotes will try to build on a 6-3 win over Toronto in their last game. Clayton Keller leads the Coyotes with 33 points including 13 goals and a team-high 20 assists while Shayne Gostisbehere has 26 points with 9 goals and 17 assists. JJ Moser has 17 points with 12 assists while Matias Maccelli has 22 points with 19 assists and Lawson Crouse has a team-high 14 goals on the year. Karel Vejmelka has gone 11-9-4 with a 3.08 GAA and a .910 save percentage while Connor Ingram has gone 2-7-1 with a 4.24 GAA and an .878 save percentage between the pipes for Arizona this season.
The Tampa Bay Lightning will be out to build on a 2-1 shootout win over the Rangers in their last outing. Nikita Kucherov leads the Lightning with 51 points including a team-high 38 assists while Steven Stamkos has 39 points with 16 goals on the year. Brayden Point also has 35 points with a team-high 20 goals and 15 assists while Mikhail Sergachev has 28 points with 5 goals and 23 assists this season. Andrei Vasilevskiy is 15-9-1 with a 2.40 GAA and a .922 save percentage while Brian Elliott is 7-2 with a 3.31 GAA and an .894 save percentage so far between the pipes for Tampa Bay.
Arizona is 5-21 in their last 26 Saturday games and 1-7 in their last 8 games when their opponent scores 2 goals or less in their previous game while the over is 7-1 in their last 8 games against a team with a winning record. Tampa Bay is 7-0 in their last 7 Saturday games and 4-0 in their last 4 games against the Central division while the under is 3-0-1 in their last 4 games following a win.
I get the case to be made for either side here, with Tampa Bay the deserved favorite and a tempting amount of plus money with Arizona on the take back. However, I’m looking at the over because however it ends up going, I see a whole pile of goals coming. Whether it’s a one-sided Tampa Bay win or Arizona making a game of it, I think we have at least 7 goals here. Give me the over.
