Florida Panthers (62-22-6) vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (57-26-8)
May 22, 2022 1:30 pm EDT
The Line: Tampa Bay Lightning -105 / Florida Panthers -115; Over/Under: -6.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Florida Panthers and the Tampa Bay Lightning meet in game three of their best of seven Eastern Conference semi-final series in NHL action from the Amalie Arena on Sunday afternoon.
The Florida Panthers come into this game looking to get on the board in the series down 2-0 after a 2-1 loss to the Bolts in game two last time out. Carter Verhaeghe has a team-high 12 points with 6 goals and 6 assists while Aleksander Barkov has 6 points with 4 assists. Claude Giroux has 8 points with 3 goals and 5 assists while Aaron Ekblad has 5 points with 4 apples and Jonathan Huberdeau’s got 4 points with 3 assists. Sergei Bobrovsky’s gone 4-4 with a .906 save percentage and a 2.86 GAA this postseason.
The Tampa Bay Lightning will try to take a commanding 3-0 series lead over their in-state rival after their victory on the road last time out. Nikita Kucherov has a team-high 11 points with 3 goals and 8 assists while Victor Hedman also has a pair of goals and 7 assists. Ondrej Palat has 6 points with 3 goals and 3 assists while Ross Colton has 7 points with a team-high 5 goals. Steven Stamkos also has 6 points with 4 assists as well this postseason. Andrei Vasilevskiy has a 6-3 record with an .915 save percentage and a 2.60 GAA this postseason.
Florida is 1-5 in their last 6 games against a division opponent and 19-7 in their last 26 road games while the under is 11-5-4 in their last 20 games overall. Tampa Bay is 4-0 in their last 4 games overall and 4-1 in their last 5 games as an underdog while the over is 8-1 in their last 9 home games.
I get the reasoning for backing the Panthers here, as it feels like the President’s Trophy winning Panthers are too good to go down 0-3 in this series with the Bolts. However, as much as it pains me to say as a Leafs fan, the Lightning have been really good and are exemplifying why they’re the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions with their recent play. I just don’t see the Panthers all of a sudden turning things around with the series shifting to Tampa Bay, so give me the Lightning and the cheap price.
