American NHL Betting Outlook: Can Tampa Derail Boston?

The NHL has nine games on its Tuesday night slate, as schedules are back to normal. At least somewhat back to normal.

Tuesday night could be a wild one for NHL betting, as several teams are looking at back-to-back game scenarios.

Teams on the back end of a Back-To-Back:

• Tampa Bay Lightning
• Florida Panthers

Teams on the front end of a Back-To-Back:

• San Jose Sharks

Does Tampa Bay Get Revenge on Boston Tonight?

The Boston Bruins have been ridiculous (in a good way) this season. They possess the best points percentage in the NHL and are undefeated at home. Boston has won 12 straight contests and will entertain the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight. 

Andrei Vasilevskiy is projected to start tonight against Linus Ullmark. The last meeting was a 5-3 win for Boston in Tampa Bay. Now, the Lightning has circled this one on the calendar. 

The problem for Tampa Bay is this defense remains unhinged without Ryan McDonagh. Inconsistency abounds. Vasilevskiy is 8-6-1 as a starter, but when did he have a goals-against near three and a save percentage of .905? Exactly!

It is early, but Tampa Bay had meandered around .500 for far too long. They have won six of their last seven contests behind Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos, who have anchored the Lightning offensively.

Boston is almost waiting for regression, but with David Pastrnak producing the way he is, the Bruins are one scary team. Jim Montgomery has this team playing night in and night out at a Stanley Cup level.

There is an expectation of a high-level performance from both teams tonight. Pace alone in this tilt figures to be other-worldly. Tampa Bay played last night in Buffalo, and that was a wild 6-5 extra-time affair. Can they push the tempo one more time? If any team could pull this off, it is Tampa Bay. 

Carolina And Pittsburgh Tussle on Tuesday?

The one thing about hockey is that things can turn quickly. At gambling.com, the Carolina Hurricanes were a betting darling when the season started. With an 11-6-5 record, the Hurricanes are 11 points off the division lead they were favored to be leading. 

For the Pittsburgh Penguins, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have dragged the Penguins back above .500 and are right behind the Hurricanes with 25 points. Pittsburgh is 7-2-1 in their last ten games, primarily due to their dynamic duo. 

Carolina has been all over the place in their last ten games, going 3-3-4. They had that legendary comeback against Winnipeg, scoring three goals with an empty net. However, injuries to Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta have masked an even bigger problem. Their offense ranks just 25th in the league with 61 goals. This was one of the better offenses in the past several seasons under coach Rod Brind’Amour. 

Carolina and Pittsburgh are both in a frustrating situation. They are looking way up at teams who have banked many points and realize a run is needed. Can they do it? Tonight may provide one of these teams with a much-needed springboard. 

Despite everything, Pittsburgh is still a slight home favorite in the -115 range. Yes, the Hurricanes will be motivated for many reasons. Hopefully, there will be an early confirmation but expect Pyotr Kochetkov and Tristan Jarry to be the goalies. Also, the Over here will stay at 6.0. It is not going to move unless something dramatic happens. 

Some Picks To Consider

• Pittsburgh Penguins 3-way at +130
• Sidney Crosby Over 2.5 shots at -115 
• Tampa Bay and Boston Over 6.5 goals at +100
• Brock Nelson, anytime goal at check number.
• Filip Forsberg anytime goal versus Anaheim at +150

Good luck, and once again, thanks for reading! We will have a few more plays on social media as conditions warrant.

All odds today come from BetMGM Sportsbook.