Lightning vs Panthers NHL Predictions, Odds, & Best Bets for Game 2 (4/23): Will Tampa Even the Series?

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Lightning vs Panthers NHL Betting Trends

• Tampa Bay is 10-5 straight up in its last 15 road games.
• Florida is 6-0 straight up in its last six home games.
• The total hit the Over in four of Tampa Bay’s last six games as the underdog.
• The total hit the Under in six of Florida’s last seven games.
• The total hit the Under in nine of the last 12 Tampa Bay-Florida matchups.

Lightning vs Panthers NHL Game 2 Predictions & Pick (4/23)

There’s no question about it: if the Lightning want to even the series tonight, a more complete effort is needed.

The Lightning barely generated any offensive opportunities in Game 1, finishing with just 19 shots on goal. Outside of Brayden Point and Steven Stamkos registered four and three shots, respectively, the rest of Tampa Bay’s forwards finished with one or zero SOG.

Meanwhile, the Panthers racked up 28 SOG and likely would’ve had more had the Lightning not blocked 21 of their shot attempts. It didn’t help that the visitors also struggled to hold onto the puck as Florida racked up 16 takeaways while Tampa only generated two.

The Lightning need the likes of Nikita Kucherov to step up in Game 2. 

Unfortunately, the Game 1 loss wasn’t anything new for the Lightning, who’ve now lost five of their last six games against the Panthers. The majority of those contests were one-sided as Florida outscored Tampa Bay 29-13 on aggregate with three victories coming by two or more goals.

What’s even worse for the Bolts is that the Panthers have won their last six home games in a row by an average of two goals.

With that being said, I’ll still go with the Lightning evening up the series tonight. Game 1 was close and I see Tampa Bay putting forth a better effort this evening. The Bolts have won five of their last seven trips to Sunrise, so it isn’t as if defeating the Panthers on the road is an impossibility.

Let’s also go with the Under on the 5.5-goal total. In addition to the Under being 6-1 in Florida’s last seven games, nine of the last 12 Lightning-Panthers tilts finished below their projected totals. In fact, six of the last nine featured five or fewer goals scored.

Assuming that Andrei Vasilevskiy and Sergei Bobrovsky remain strong between the pipes, we likely won’t see too much offense tonight.

https://twitter.com/NHL/status/1782090744565584360

After scoring the series-opening goal, Reinhart now has 10 goals in his last 13 games. He found the back of the net at least once in eight of those games and heads into Game 2 on a four-game goal streak. That’s without mentioning how he also has eight goals in his last 10 home games.

With five goals in his last four meetings with the Lightning, you can expect Reinhart to be an offensive threat again tonight.

Best Lightning vs Panthers Prop Bet: Sam Reinhart Anytime Goal Scorer (+120)

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