The Tampa Bay Lightning are favored over the St. Louis Blues despite having lost five straight games against them, including earlier this week. Tampa Bay (12-5-4) is a small favorite on the NHL lines this time despite choking away their last game.
The Lightning get home-ice advantage, where they are 7-3-2. However, this means little against St. Louis (12-7-3) as Tampa Bay has lost four of their last six to the Blues at Amalie Arena. The Lightning’s last home win against St. Louis came in October 2017 as they look to snap this skid.
NHL Odds Preview
St. Louis Blues at Tampa Bay Lightning
- Puckline: St. Louis +1½ (-180), Tampa Bay -1½ (+160)
- Moneyline: St. Louis +130, Tampa Bay -150
- Total: Over/Under 5½ (-110)
Team Previews
Blues: Binnington With the Broom
St. Louis has a chance to sweep Tampa Bay for the third straight season. Goaltender Jordan Binnington has been the Lightning’s kryptonite. He is unbeaten against them (5-0-0) with a 93.8 save percent and just 1.94 goals-against average (GAA).
Despite letting in three goals in the first six minutes on Tuesday, Binnington clamped down on the Lightning and allowed the Blues to come back for shootout win. He has been the X-factor for the Blues since he debuted with the team.
Gaming winning save from …Craig Binnington? pic.twitter.com/jazvMKYDhW
— Spittin’ Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) December 1, 2021
The 28-year-old is posting a 93.3 percent save rate and just 2.21 GAA in Blues’ wins but just 88.9 percent and 3.38 GAA in losses. You may be able to say this about every goaltender, but the Blues have generally been consistent. They are a middle-of-the-pack team that can go up or down depending on their goaltender’s play.
Lightning: Wounded Champions
“The bill comes due” and it’s a big one for the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions. The Lightning are looking like a Walmart version of their dynasty version. We can kiss their Presidents’ Trophy odds goodbye at this point thanks to the offseason losses and injuries.
We can add captain and leading scorer Steven Stamkos (personal) and defenseman Erik Cernak (upper body) to the list of missing and/or banged up players. Thankfully, Andrei Vasilevskiy is still an elite netminder and the team is getting enough production from the rest of its core.
Tampa still leads the NHL in 5v5 high-danger scoring chances percent and are in the green in corsi and scoring chances share. But the Lightning’s scoring chance shooting percentages are down as well as their power-play. The team may have depth and defense, but there is no replacing the scoring prowess of their missing stars.
Betting Pick
Tampa Bay caught St. Louis (namely Binnington) with their pants down. But once the Blues recovered, they took over and shut the Lightning out. As the game moves to Tampa Bay, it’s the Lightning’s turn to wake up and play a more balanced game this time around.
Vasilevskiy should return in net so the Lightning will be worth a bet online if he does. But even without him, the Lightning are more talented at generating scoring chances and should be able to edge St. Louis.
Pick: Tampa Bay Lightning -150
Bonus Pick
We have two solid goaltenders, strong penalty killing, and chronic issues in scoring plaguing both teams. The online sports betting odds are looking good that this one could be a low-scoring affair, even if three of their last four meetings have gone over. The Lightning play better defense at home, as five of their last seven home games have gone under.
