Streaking Lightning Look to Handle Struggling Stars

Tampa Bay Lightning at Dallas Stars

• When: Thursday, March 25, 2021, at 8:30 p.m. ET
• Where: American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX
• TV: FS-SW, SUN

Lightning Looking Powerful Again

Point-blank … the defending champion Lightning look like the best team in the NHL for the second straight season.  Tampa Bay ranks first in scoring (3.6 gpg), 11th in shot attempts per game (30.5), and second in power-play percentage (28.7%).

That’s not all though. The Lightning have been outstanding defensively as well. Tampa Bay ranks fourth in goals allowed (2.3 gpg) and fifth in shot attempts allowed per game (27.5). The Lightning have gone 11-4-2 on the road and come into this matchup fresh off a hard-fought 2-1 win over the Stars on Tuesday night. Steven Stamkos and Yanni Gourde scored in the second period and Andrei Vasilevskiy recorded his franchise-record 12th straight win by turning back 16 shots.

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Stars Playing Catch-Up

The Stars have been playing catch-up all season after having four of its first nine games canceled because of COVID-19 issues. The Stars have dropped two straight and four of five in a season that has gone awry.

Roope Hintz scored his ninth goal and Anton Khudobin stopped 24 shots for Dallas, on Tuesday night.

“The worst thing you can do is sit back, and we sat back,” Dallas head coach Rick Bowness said afterward. “ We addressed after the period, tried to fix it during the period, but we couldn’t get anything going. Then when we did have some opportunities, we either fanned on the shot or took too long to release the puck.”

Dallas is ranked sixth in goals allowed (2.5 gpg) and third in shot attempts allowed per game (27.0), but also ranks 19th in scoring (2.8 gpg) and 24th in shots per game (28.9). The Stars have gone 6-5 at home.

Tampa Bay Gets ‘Er Done

Tampa Bay has won five straight and eight of the last nine meetings against Dallas. The big difference is the Lightning can light the lamp with regularity while the Stars are offensively challenged.

Tampa Bay has gone an insane 36-15 in its last 51 road games while Dallas has dropped four straight at the American Airlines Center. The Stars are 8-22 in their last 30 games against a team with a winning percentage above .600.

The road team in this rivalry is 7-1 in the last eight meetings and Tampa Bay has won six straight in the Lone Star state. Don’t think twice about it, NHL betting faithful. Tampa Bay gets it done by at least two goals.

Pick: Tampa Bay 4, Dallas 2

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