Wild vs Lightning Prediction 3/3/26 NHL Picks Today

The Tampa Bay Lightning and Minnesota Wild meet Tuesday in NHL action at the Grand Casino Arena. Here’s a Wild vs. Lightning prediction. This article will include a Wild vs. Lightning pick.

Tampa Bay Lightning Betting Preview

The Tampa Bay Lightning lost to the Canes and Sabres, and they play the Jets next. The Lightning have won 9 of their last 12 games.

The Tampa Bay Lightning are averaging 3.53 goals per game and are scoring on 21.9 percent of their power-play opportunities. Nikita Kucherov leads Tampa Bay with 31 goals, Darren Raddysh has 37 assists, and Jake Guentzel has 154 shots on goal. Defensively, the Tampa Bay Lightning are allowing 2.6 goals per game and are killing 83.1 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Andrei Vasilevskiy has allowed 85 goals on 1,008 shots faced, while Jonas Johansson has given up 59 goals on 537 shots.

Minnesota Wild Betting Preview

The Minnesota Wild lost to the Mammoth and Blues, and they play the Golden Knights next. The Wild have won 9 of their last 13 games.

The Minnesota Wild are averaging 3.28 goals per game and are scoring 26 percent of their power play opportunities. Matt Boldy leads Minnesota with 35 goals, Kirill Kaprizov has 40 assists and Joel Eriksson Ek has 153 shots on goal. Defensively, the Minnesota Wild are allowing 2.89 goals per game and are killing 77.6 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Filip Gustavsson has allowed 97 goals on 1,072 shots faced, and Jesper Wallstedt has given up 69 goals on 764 shots.

Why the Minnesota Wild will win

• The Wild have won four of their last five games as home underdogs.
• The Lightning have lost 11 of their last 12 games at Grand Casino Arena.
• The Wild have covered the puck line in each of their last 10 games as underdogs following a home loss.
• The Lightning have failed to cover the puck line in six of their last seven games at Grand Casino Arena.
• The Wild have won the third period in each of their last four home games when leading after the second period.

Why the Tampa Bay Lightning will win

• The Lightning have won 10 of their last 11 games when playing with a rest advantage.
• The Wild have lost three of their last four games when playing with a rest disadvantage.
• The Wild have failed to cover the puck line in 10 of their last 11 home games.
• The favorites have covered the puck line in each of the Lightning’s last four games at Grand Casino Arena.
• The Lightning have won the second period in nine of their last 10 games as favorites against Central Division opponents.

Total Goals Facts

• Each of the Lightning’s last 10 games against Central Division opponents has gone UNDER the total goals line.
• Each of the Wild’s last seven games against Atlantic Division opponents has gone OVER the total goals line.
• The ‘Over 1.5 Goals Period 3’ market has hit in each of the Wild’s last 12 games.
• The ‘Over 1.5 Goals Period 2’ market has hit in each of the Lightning’s last seven games as favorites against the Wild.

Minnesota Wild Player Prop Facts

• Matthew Boldy has scored the last goal in three of his last four appearances with the Wild as underdogs.
• Kirill Kaprizov has scored at least one goal in each of the Wild’s last four home games against Atlantic Division opponents.
• Kirill Kaprizov has recorded at least one assist in each of his last seven appearances with the Wild as underdogs against Atlantic Division opponents.
• Quinn Hughes ranks 1st in the league for average time on ice (27:47) this season.

Tampa Bay Lightning Player Prop Facts

• Nikita Kucherov has scored at least one goal in 10 of the Lightning’s last 12 road games.
• Nikita Kucherov has recorded at least one assist in 10 of the Lightning’s last 11 games as road favorites against Central Division opponents.
• Nikita Kucherov ranks 1st in the league for multi-assist games (19) this season.

Matchup/League Facts

• The Minnesota Wild rank 5th in the league in power play percentage this season (26.00%).
• The Minnesota Wild rank 32nd in the league in penalty minutes this season (414).
• The Tampa Bay Lightning rank 2nd in the league for goals per game this season (3.53).
• The Tampa Bay Lightning rank 2nd in the league for goals against per game this season (2.60).

Wild vs Lightning Prediction

The Lightning are going to be favored more times than not and they’ve done some of their best work on the road. I get it. However, the Wild are getting priced like they’re not one of the better teams in the league. We keep getting these soft prices or underdog roles and the Lightning just keeps winning. Sure, the last two games weren’t so hot and there was an inexcusable loss to the Blues, but the Lightning also went into Colorado and left with a comfortable win. The Wild are good and should be treated with respect from oddsmakers. The Wild have also won the last two games against the Lightning. I’ll gladly take the extra money here.