With the losing streak broken, the Tampa Bay Lightning (38-21-5) remain at home to host the Vegas Golden Knights (38-20-6). Both teams come into this matchup with the same amount of wins, but FanDuel has the Lightning favored at -164 on the money line paired with an over/under of 6.5.
The Bolts finally snapped a five-game losing streak on Tuesday when they came away with a 5-2 home victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. Certainly a rough bout with the hard-hitting Flyers, but Tampa Bay prevailed behind two goals each from Alex Killorn and Nikita Kucherov. Both of Kucherov’s goals came on the Power Play as the Lightning exploited the Flyers’ inability to stay out of the box all night long. A great win to get Tampa Bay back on track and trending in a better direction, especially as the team continues to gel with new forwards Tanner Jeannot and Michael Eyssimont.
#BOLTSWIN!!!!! pic.twitter.com/Oi402a19XW
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) March 8, 2023
The Golden Knights come into this game tied with the LA Kings for the top spot in the Pacific division. They also boast a nice 17-7-5 record on the road as well. Vegas has won nine out of their last 13 games dating back to the start of February but suffered one of those losses earlier this week on Tuesday. A stellar performance by Sergei Bobrovsky and the Florida Panthers allowed them to get a 2-1 victory over the Golden Knights in South Florida. The Bolts will look to hand Vegas their second straight loss as the Golden Knights continue through a five-game Eastern Conference road trip.
In their only other meeting this season, the Golden Knights prevailed in a 5-4 offensive battle in Vegas on February 18th. Six goals total were scored in the first period alone, four of them in favor of Vegas. Tampa Bay played from behind for the rest of the game and just couldn’t make up enough ground. The Bolts will need a big win tonight to even the season series up and stay in a tight race with Toronto for the second Atlantic division spot.
INJURIES: Lightning D Victor Hedman is still considered day-to-day after missing Tuesday’s game.
The Golden Knights are dealing with a plethora of injuries, all of which can be found here.
Odds (Courtesy of FanDuel): TBL -164 ML/VGK +136 ML, O 6.5 +116/U 6.5 -142
Where to watch: Bally Sports Sun, NHL Power Play, ESPN+
Where to listen: Lightning Radio 24/7, 102.5 MHz-FM
Amalie Arena, Tampa, FL
March 9, 2023, 7:00 p.m. ET