Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports/Sipa USA – Photo by Icon sport
Ottawa Senators vs Tampa Bay Lightning: Is this the year for the Lightning?
The Tampa Bay Lightning are hosting the Ottawa Senators at Amalie Arena on Thursday.
The Senators are having a disappointing season
The Ottawa Senators are 14th in the Eastern Conference with a 34-40-4 record. They have lost 4 of the last 5 games and are coming off a 2-0 loss to the Florida Panthers. The Senators are 16th in the league scoring 3.09 goals per game and are ranked 18th allowing goals per game. Tim Stutzle leads the team with 70 points followed by Brady Tkachuk with 68.
The Lightning are strong as usual
The Tampa Bay Lightning are sixth in the Eastern Conference with a 43-27-7 record. They have won 3 of the last 4 games and are coming off a 5-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Lightning are fifth in the league scoring 3.54 goals per game and are on top of the NHL converting on 29.7% of the power play situations. Nikita Kucherov is having a fantastic year leading the league with 139 points and being second with 96 assists. Brayden Point is also on top of the game having 86 points so far in the season.
Betting Trends
Five of the last seven games between these two teams have gone over the total goal line. The Lightning have gone over in 11 of their last 16 games played in April. The Senators have gone over in 6 of their last 9 games against teams from the Eastern Conference.
Prediction and Conclusion
Another time, the Tampa Bay Lightning are in the middle of the teams that will go to the playoffs from the Eastern Conference. No matter what happens in the remaining four games of the regular season, the Lightning will be fifth in the conference. The Senators also cannot change much since they are having another disappointing season, missing the playoffs. There will be no pressure tonight, and both coaches may give more minutes to players who did not play as much the entire year. These two teams usually score a lot when they face each other, and that will be the case tonight, as the game goes over 6.5 goals in total.
