The Tampa Bay Lightning and the Utah Hockey Club meet Saturday in NHL action from the Delta Center. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Utah Hockey Club prediction.
Tampa Bay Lightning Recap
The Tampa Bay Lightning come into this game looking to build on their 3-2 shootout win over the Dallas Stars on the road last time out to improve to 40-23-5 on the year. After this game, Tampa Bay will head on the road for a game against Vegas.
Lightning Win Three Straight
Nikita Kucherov leads the Bolts with 96 points including a team-high 29 goals and 67 assists while Brandon Hagel has 75 points with 32 goals and 43 assists and Anthony Cirelli has 49 points of his own with 23 goals and 26 assists. Brayden Point has 66 points with 32 goals and 34 assists while Victor Hedman has 53 points with 41 assists. Jake Guentzel also has 64 points with 33 goals and 31 assists. Andrei Vasilevskiy has gone 33-18-3 with a 2.23 GAA and a .920 save percentage while Jonas Johansson has gone 7-5-2 with a 3.12 GAA and an .896 save percentage on the year in goal for Tampa Bay.
Why the Tampa Bay Lightning will win
- The Lightning have won seven of their last eight day games following a road win.
- Utah has lost each of its last four games following a win.
- Utah has failed to cover the puck line in nine of its last 10 games following a win.
- The Lightning have covered the puck line in five of their last six day games.
Tampa Bay Lightning Player Prop Facts
- Anthony Cirelli has scored at least one goal in six of the Lightning’s last eight games against Central Division opponents.
- Brandon Hagel has recorded at least one point in each of the Lightning’s last six games as road favorites.
- Nikita Kucherov has recorded at least one assist in each of the Lightning’s last nine road games against Central Division opponents.
- Nikita Kucherov ranks T1st in the league for multi-assist games (20) this season.
Utah Hockey Club Recap
The Utah Hockey Club come into this game looking to build on their 5-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres last time out to improve to 31-27-11 on the year. After this game, Utah will welcome the Detroit Red Wings to town.
Utah Looking For Some Consistency
Clayton Keller leads Utah in scoring with 76 points including 24 goals and a team-high 52 assists while Dylan Guenther has 49 points with 25 goals. Logan Cooley has 50 points with 19 goals and 31 assists of his own while Nick Schmaltz has 38 assists as part of his 54 points. Mikhail Sergachev has 45 points with 32 assists while Barrett Hayton has 39 points with 17 goals and 22 assists. Connor Ingram has gone 9-8-4 with a 3.27 GAA and an .882 save percentage while Karel Vejmelka has gone 20-18-6 with a 2.49 GAA and a .908 save percentage in goal for Utah this season. Jaxson Stauber has gone 2-1-1 with a 2.23 GAA and a .925 save percentage this season as well for Utah.
Why the Utah Hockey Club will win
- The Lightning have lost five of their last six games as road favorites after coming off a shootout.
- Utah has won each of its last three games as an underdog following a home win.
- The Lightning have failed to cover the puck line in each of their last four games as road favorites following a shootout win.
- The underdog has covered the puck line in 10 of Utah’s last 12 games at Delta Center.
Utah Hockey Club Player Prop Facts
- Clayton Keller has scored at least one goal in nine of his last 10 Saturday day home appearances.
- Clayton Keller has recorded at least one assist in seven of Utah’s last eight games against Atlantic Division opponents.
- Clayton Keller has recorded at least one point in each of Utah’s last eight games against Atlantic Division opponents.
- Dylan Guenther ranks T2nd in the league for Game Winning Goals (9) this season.
Total Goals Facts
- Each of Utah’s last four day games have gone OVER the total goals line.
- Four of the Lightning’s last five games against Central Division opponents have gone UNDER the total goals line.
Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Utah Hockey Club Prediction
I’m on the Lightning here. The Lightning are just the team in better form right now and I’m having trouble with getting on the Utah Hockey Club here with all of the inconsistencies this team has been having. I think that Tampa Bay goes into Utah and gets the job done on the road here with another world-class effort from Andrei Vasilevskiy here so give me the Lightning -1.5.