Face-off: 1930 ET, 26/02/2022
Venue: Nissan Stadium
Nashville will be fired up for hosting their first-ever outdoor game but couldn’t have been handed tougher opponents for Saturday’s NHL Stadium Series showdown.
In claiming back-to-back Stanley Cup triumphs, Tampa Bay have shown time and time again they can handle the pressure of big matches in intimidating environments.
We’re going for an away win and over 5.5 total goals at 2.45 in the first of our Nashville Predators vs Tampa Bay Lightning predictions.
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Nashville Predators Odds
Nashville fans will come out in force at Nissan Stadium, home of the Tennessee Titans NFL franchise, and a great atmosphere is guaranteed.
Country star Jessie James Decker will sing the national anthem and a host of other performers will be on stage before, during and after the game.
On the ice, the Predators will be seeking a third straight win after upsetting Florida 6-4 on the road and then beating Dallas 2-1 in a shootout at Bridgestone Arena.
A record crowd of 17,869 was present for that match and coach John Hynes said: “You have to play your best in high-stakes games.
“Whether they are hyped-up games, or highly competitive games, or rivalry games, nationally televised games, whatever it is.
“If you are going to be a team that’s going to be able to do anything, you have to play your best when the stakes are the highest and the stage is high.”
In-form defenseman Roman Josi has scored 499 NHL points and will be a popular pick to grab a landmark goal or assist here.
However, Nashville were outplayed at times by the Stars and had to rely on goalie Juuse Saros a little too much for our liking.
Looking at the NHL odds for this contest, we like Tampa Bay to spoil the party and win by exactly two goals at 6.75.
Tampa Bay Lightning Odds
Tampa Bay have Atlantic Division leaders Florida in their sights, lying three points behind in second after playing two matches less.
The Lightning returned from the All-Star break with a narrow loss to this season’s Stanley Cup favourites Colorado in a high-quality affair.
Since then, they have scored 15 times in a trio of victories over Arizona, New Jersey and Edmonton.
Corey Perry scored his 400th NHL goal in Wednesday’s hard-fought 5-3 triumph over the Oilers and Tampa Bay should be sharper for that first outing in over a week.
Head coach Jon Cooper said. “They have a good team and they were coming in having won five of six, but we played hard enough to win.
“This is a rhythm league and after taking six days off we were a little out of sync, so I give the guys credit.”
Winger Patrick Maroon added: “We got the ‘W’, that’s the most important thing. It wasn’t the prettiest game, but we found a way to get the job done.
“They are a fast team and they have been playing a lot of hockey the past few weeks, so I thought we did well.”
We just feel the visitors may have too much nous for this weekend’s opponents as well and 18.0 for a 4-2 away win completes our Nashville Predators vs Tampa Bay Lightning predictions.
Additional stats
Last result:
NASHVILLE 2-1 Dallas (OT)
TAMPA BAY 5-3 Edmonton
Head-to-head this season: N/A
