Tampa Bay Lightning vs Chicago: Preview, Matchups, Odds 11/16/23

Last week, the Connor Bedard show came to Amalie Arena and made the Tampa Bay Lightning look silly as Chicago knocked off Tampa 5-3.

The Lightning lost their next two and are on a three-game losing streak entering tonight’s rematch with the Blackhawks. Tampa has a record of 6-6-4 for 16 points and sits outside a playoff spot. Chicago is 5-8-0 for 10 points and is seven points back of a playoff spot.

Tampa Bay Lightning: Let’s try this again

• When – 8 PM
• Where – United Center
• TV – ESPN+
• Radio – 102.5 The Bone

Tampa lost its last outing to St. Louis 5-0. The advanced metric told a story that the Tampa Bay Lightning deserved a better fate, but defensive breakdowns allowed Grade A chances that the Blues cashed in on.

The deeper problem brewing for the Lightning is that the season’s quarter mark is fast approaching, and they are sitting outside a playoff spot. The optimist could say that there is still 75% of the season to play, but history shows that the vast majority of the teams that are in a playoff spot on Thanksgiving day are the ones that wind up making the playoffs come April.

Who to watch on Chicago

When Bedard came to town last week, he created quite the buzz from his performance after scoring two goals and assisting on two others.

He followed that up with another two-goal performance against Florida over the weekend.

Former Bolt Corey Perry is having a solid season in the Windy City with eight points, the same as Nick Foligno.

Chicago also has defenseman Seth Jones, who is still trying to live up to the monster contract Chicago gave him two seasons ago.

Vegas Says…

The Lightning have played 16 games this season. They have won a total of six. They lost to Chicago just last week.

So naturally, Vegas has Tampa as the second biggest favorite of the night at -190, while Chicago is a +155 underdog.