Detroit Red Wings vs Tampa Bay Lightning Prediction: Best Bet for Saturday
Tampa Bay is 8-0-0 at home and Detroit has lost five straight, and the Red Wings arrive in Tampa without Dylan Larkin. Saturday is the second meeting of the season in this building, and the first one ended 4-2 to the Lightning.
The Matchup
Tampa Bay is 13-4-2, scoring 3.89 goals per game and allowing 2.95, a +0.95 differential. The Lightning are a perfect 8-0-0 at home, and Brandon Hagel leads Tampa Bay with 13 goals while Nikita Kucherov has 20 assists and 28 points. Tampa Bay has won four of its last five, scoring eight on Buffalo and winning at Minnesota in overtime along the way. The Lightning already beat Detroit 4-2 in this building on November 3, and Saturday's rematch comes with Detroit in a far worse place than it was then.
Detroit is 7-10-3, scoring 2.65 per game and allowing 3.10 for a -0.45 differential. Viktor Arvidsson leads the Red Wings with 8 goals, and Lucas Raymond has 12 assists and 19 points. The form has collapsed: five straight losses, including a 4-0 shutout at Colorado and Thursday's 5-4 loss at Florida. Detroit is 3-5-2 on the road, and a team that scores 2.65 a night cannot afford a five-game slide built on leaking at the other end.
Key Factors
Detroit's biggest problem is who is missing. Dylan Larkin is out tonight. He is on injured reserve, and the Red Wings' attack without their top center is a different, thinner thing.
Simon Edvinsson and Albert Johansson are also out tonight on injured reserve, so the blue line is short against one of the highest-scoring teams on the slate. In net, John Gibson is at 3.58 and .862 for Detroit, with Daniil Tarasov steadier at 2.10 and .919, and Andrei Vasilevskiy is at 2.86 and .885 for Tampa Bay with Dennis Hildeby at 2.56 and .899 behind him.
Tampa Bay has questions of its own. Anthony Cirelli is day-to-day with a lower body injury. Keep an eye on whether Cirelli plays before placing a bet. Erik Cernak is day-to-day with an upper body injury.
Keep an eye on whether Cernak plays before placing a bet. Brayden Point is out tonight. He is on injured reserve and is not expected back until December. Even short-handed, Tampa Bay's special teams hold up better: the Lightning convert 21.2 percent on the power play against a Detroit kill of just 70.5 percent, and Detroit converts 20.6 percent against a Tampa Bay kill of 71.7 percent.
Detroit's case is desperation and Tarasov's numbers if he plays. It fails on the building, where Tampa Bay has won eight straight, and on a Red Wings lineup missing the player it can least afford to lose.
Tampa Bay has not lost at home, Detroit has not won in five, and the Red Wings are missing the center their whole attack runs through. Take the Tampa Bay Lightning moneyline at -225.
Game Information
| Date | Saturday (11/14) |
|---|---|
| Start Time | 6:00 PM CT |
| How to Watch | NHL |
| Venue | Benchmark International Arena |
| Total | 6.5 |
| Moneyline | Tampa Bay Lightning -225 |
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