Tampa Bay Lightning @ Colorado Avalanche Preview

The Tampa Bay Lightning (34-16-2) continue with their western road trip tonight, matching up once again with the Colorado Avalanche (28-19-4). This time in Colorado at 9:00 p.m. ET, FanDuel currently has this game at a pick ’em, with both teams landing at -110 on the money line. The over/under currently sits at six.

The Bolts and the Avalanche met less than a week ago on February 9th in Tampa in a very lopsided game. The Lightning routed Colorado 5-0, earning Andrei Vasilevskiy his first shutout of the season. The Avs struggled to stay out of the penalty box, creating a lot of uneven opportunities for the Bolts who cashed in twice on the Power Play. A flurry of takeaways by the Lightning coupled with a dominant night in the face-off circle kept Tampa Bay in a comfortable position all night. In their final matchup this season, the Bolts will certainly have to remain poised to take down the reigning Stanley Cup Champions yet again for a season sweep.

Tampa Bay began their road trip this past Saturday night, earning a 3-1 victory over the Dallas Stars. Anthony Cirelli finally found the back of the net after just three goals in his last 23 games, scoring twice to help lead the Lightning over a powerful Dallas squad. Victor Hedman also earned his 500th assist of his career, an incredible milestone for the Tampa Bay defenseman.

The Avalanche are coming off of a nice win themselves on the same night, winning 5-3 in Sunrise against the Florida Panthers. Nathan McKinnon put home two goals as he comes into this game as the second-leading point scorer for Colorado behind Mikko Rantanen.

In Colorado, the Avalanche boast a decent 13-9-3 record as they sit tied for third in the Central division with the Wild. The Bolts however, come in with a near .500 record on the road at 13-12-0 this season. They sit only two points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs for second place in the Atlantic division, and they have a monumental chance to tie them for that second spot if they can grind out a victory tonight.

INJURIES: Lightning C Nick Paul has been practicing and could return to the lineup tonight after missing the previous two games.

Avalanche LW Gabriel Landeskog and C Darren Helm remain on IR. Defensemen Cale Makar, Josh Manson, & Erik Johnson along with G Pavel Francouz are all considered day-to-day and likely not expected to play.

Odds (Courtesy of FanDuel): TBL -110 ML/COL -110 ML, O 6 -118/U 6 -104

Where to watch: Bally Sports Sun, NHL Power Play, ESPN+

Where to listen: Lightning Radio 24/7, 102.5 MHz-FM

Ball Arena, Denver, CO

February 14, 2023, 9:00 p.m. ET