Lightning vs Penguins Prediction and Betting Odds March 3
Lightning vs Penguins Betting Preview
Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh have split their first two meetings this season. Who has the upper hand in tonight’s clash at Amalie Arena in Florida? WagerTalk NHL handicapper Kevin Dolan offers his Lightning vs Penguins betting preview for Thursday, March 3.
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| Thursday, March 3 | NHL Betting Notes, Courtesy of Caesars |
|---|---|
| Moneyline: | Tampa Bay Lightning -165 vs Pittsburgh Penguins +145 |
| Puckline: | Lightning -1.5 (+140) / Penguins +1.5 (-160) |
| Total: | 6 Goals (-110 Each Way) |
| Game Time: | 7:05pm ET / 4:05pm PT |
| Arena: | Amalie Arena in Tampa |
| TV: | ESPN+ |
Lightning vs Penguins Analysis
The Pittsburgh Penguins have put together back-to-back wins over recent games after dropping three straight against the Leafs, Hurricanes and Devils respectively since mid-February.
The Tampa Bay Lightning meanwhile have been on a red-hot run of late, winning five straight games on the bounce and enter Thursday’s contest with a scorching 18-4-4 home record this season also.
This will be the teams’ third meeting this season with both team’s taking one game apiece, Pittsburgh winning at home against the Lightning 6-2 back on opening night before the Lightning returned the favor with a 5-1 demolition in Pittsburgh back on October 26th.
Penguin’s Mis-firing in Front of Net
Despite what on paper is an extremely competent offense this season, with the Penguins on the cusp of a top ten position in overall scoring this year banking 3.20 goals per game, it hasn’t stopped this Penguins team from mis-firing quite consistently in games this year and posting offensive numbers that arguably should be quite a bit higher.
The Penguins are sub 10% this season on shot-to-goal percentage, posting a 9.19% conversion rate, just 0.18% higher than Seattle’s this season. With Pittsburgh averaging just 1.8 goals per game over their last five starts as well, those are numbers that simply have to improve if they’re going to get anything from this game on Thursday night.
Lightning Top of the Atlantic
The Tampa Bay Lightning reclaimed their spot at the top of the Atlantic Division on Tuesday with a come from behind 5-2 win against Ottawa, not that the Senators made it easy in that one.
The Lightning were blown out early with two goals over just the opening four minutes of play, with the Senators arguably going further ahead if not for the efforts of star goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy in that one, before Tampa Bay were finally able to steady the ship and go on to score five goals off just 22 shots in that game for a 22.7% overall conversion rate.
The Lightning already boast the league’s second highest-conversion rate this season at 11.52%.
Lightning vs Penguins Prediction
It’s not often we advise standing in front of a moving train but that’s exactly what we’re looking to do on Thursday night by taking the Tampa Bay Lightning team total under 3.5 goals in this one against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
While Tampa Bay has been hot in front of goal this season, they’ve also been fortunate, boasting a +20 expected goal differential this season between actual and expected goals, the fourth-highest margin in the league this season.
On top of that, Tristan Jarry is expected in nets tonight for the Penguins and the young Canadian has been in red-hot form this season, ranking 6th on the year on overall GSAA average and posting a .921 SV% this season with the third-highest number of shutouts this year also.
We like the Penguins to limit the Lightning here on Thursday night so take the Tampa Bay Lightning team total under 3.5 goals tonight down in Florida.
Interested in placing a bet on Thursday night’s Lightning vs Penguins showdown in Tampa? Caesars Sports is offering up to a $1,500 match bet for first-time deposits in New Jersey, West Virginia, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Virginia, Tennessee, Arizona, New York and Louisiana.
Thursday on WagerTalk TV:
🏒 11am ET – Puck Time
☕ 12pm ET – WagerTalk Today
🏀 1:45pm ET – NCAAB Tip-Off
🏀 4:15pm ET – NBA Tip-Off
📈 Evening – Under the Radar with @DrewMartinBets
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Puck Time | NHL Predictions for March 3
Join Andrew McInnis and Bryan Leonard for Thursday’s edition of Puck Time as our panel of professional hockey handicappers break down tonight’s NHL betting card. Join Andrew and Bryan for Puck Time as we break down tonight’s NHL betting slate, including this Lightning vs Penguins Eastern Conference clash.
WagerTalk Live Odds Screen
WagerTalk’s live odds screen features up-to-the-minute lines from a variety of offshore and domestic sports books. Track the NHL moneylines, puck lines and betting percentages for all of Thursday’s NHL games, including this Lightning vs Penguins showdown, from your desktop or phone.
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