Lightning vs. Panthers Prediction
An in-state battle is on tap tonight as the Tampa Bay Lightning take on the host Florida Panthers. Can Florida protect its home ice as the small underdogs?
Game Snapshot
55 Tampa Bay Lightning at 56 Florida Panthers
Saturday, October 5, 2019
BB&T Center at 7:05PM ET
TV: FS-F
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Public Betting Information
According to oddsmakers, the Lightning are a -125 favorite to win on the moneyline. The Panthers are a +105 underdog, while the total is set at 6.5 goals. As of Saturday morning, 73 percent of public bets are pouring in on visiting Tampa Bay. Check out our NHL Public Betting Page for the latest information.
Lightning topple Panthers
Tampa Bay won its season opener at home Thursday night in the front end of a home-and-home with Florida as it prevailed 5-2. Nikita Kucherov put the Lightning on the board in the first period on a goal assisted by Mikhail Sergachev and Mathieu Joseph. The Panthers tied it up early in the second, but Tampa Bay took the lead back midway through the period on a tally from Kevin Shattenkirk off assists by Sergachev and Alex Killorn. Florida tied it up again in the third period before the Lightning took the lead back for good on an Ondrej Palet power play goal at the 10:26 mark on assists by Killorn and Sergachev. Patrick Maroon added an insurance goal four-plus minutes later with assists courtesy of Victor Hedman and Kucherov. Erik Cernak completed the scoring in the final minute on an assist from Anthony Cirelli. Andrei Vasilevskiy picked up the win in net as he accounted for 35 saves on 37 shots.
Trocheck has two-point night
Florida suffered a 5-2 loss at Tampa Bay Thursday night in its season opener. The Panthers evened the game up at 1-1 at the 17:25 mark of the second period on a goal from Mike Hoffman with assists going to Vincent Trocheck and Brett Connolly. The Lightning retook the lead at 2-1 later in the second, but Trocheck tied it back up at 2-2 with 11:11 left in the third period on a shorthanded goal assisted by Aaron Ekblad. Tampa Bay scored three unanswered goals the rest of the way to send Florida to the loss. Sergei Bobrovsky gave up four goals on 29 shots to take the loss.
NHL Betting Trends
Tampa Bay
The Lightning are 6-0 in their last six games of a home-and-home situation. Tampa Bay is 56-10 in its last 66 games versus the Atlantic Division.
Florida
The Panthers are 9-4 in their last 13 Saturday games. Florida is 2-6 in its last eight games as an underdog.
Prediction:
Florida is expected to take a big step forward this season and to do that it will have to get some quality wins and protect its home ice. Who better to do that against than the Lightning? After a rough finish two nights ago, I expect the Panthers to shore up some things here and Bobrovsky is likely to have a better night. Look for a statement here from the hosts.
NHL DAILY PREDICTION: FLORIDA PANTHERS +105