Tampa Bay Lightning vs Seattle Kraken: Preview, Matchup, Odds 10/30/23

The Tampa Bay Lightning close out their five-game homestand tonight with a chance to claim nine points out of a possible ten as the Seattle Kraken come to town.

Tampa enters the night fifth in the Atlantic Division with a record of 4-2-2, while Seattle is also fifth in the Pacific Division but has a record of 2-5-2.

Tampa Bay Lightning: Sleepless from Seattle

• When – 7:00 PM
• Where – Amalie Arena
• TV – Bally Sports
• Radio – 102.5 The Bone

After its disappointing road trip to open the season, the Lightning have responded in a big way during its five-game homestand, going 3-0-1 thus far.

There probably won’t be any real lineup changes tonight for Tampa, nor would there be a reason to. The Lightning thrashed San Jose 6-0 in its last contest. It was just the third time since 2006 that Tampa has scored at least six goals and held the opposition to a shutout.

The Lightning did get some positive news yesterday, as Andrei Vasilevskiy was spotted on the ice going through some rehab drills. All indications are that his rehab from back surgery is going well, and he is on track to return in a month.

Who to watch on Seattle

Tonight’s contest will have similar vibes to when Tampa took on Carolina, as Seattle has struggled mightily coming out of the gate. After reaching the second round of the playoffs last season, Seattle is only two points back of a playoff spot. But their pace of six points through nine games won’t get it done unless it improves.

One of the issues for Seattle is that they lack some of the pure shooters needed to get over the finish line in games. Their shots for versus shots against isn’t too egregious, at 276 shots for versus 289 shots against.

The problem for Seattle is that they have almost 26 expected goals but just 20 actual goals to show through nine games. Seattle has taken the third most shots during 5 v 5 play in the NHL, but their shooting percentage is the third worst in the league.

Oliver Bjorkstrand and Vince Dunn lead the way for Seattle with seven points each. Of course, fan-favorite Yanni Gourde is back in town. He’s been with a couple of different line combinations this season. Against Florida, he was paired with Jared McCann and Eeli Tolvanen.

Bjorkstrand, meanwhile, has been paired most of the season with Jaden Schwartz and Oliver Bjorkstrand.

Vegas Says…

Vegas likes the Tampa Bay Lightning in this one. The Bolts are -165 favorites, while Seattle is +135 underdogs to win this one.

The over/under is at 6.5 goals. Similar to the over/under in the San Jose game, this feels like a reflection of Seattle not being able to score.

Tampa is 3-1 as a favorite this season, while Seattle is 2-5-1 as an underdog. Tampa is 3-3-2 at hitting the over this season, while Seattle has gone 2-7 at hitting the over.

By Vegas standards, they are feeling a 3-1 type win for the Lightning.