Face-off: 2200 ET, 12/03/2022
Arena: Rogers Place
Edmonton will look to build on their thrilling overtime win over Washington when Tampa Bay roll into Rogers Place.
For the Lightning, this road trip has not been the best, with defeats in Winnipeg and Calgary, and they will be keen to get things back on track.
Tampa Bay have conceded 11 goals in two games and things will not get any easier facing two of the NHL’s top three scorers here.
We’re taking 2.8 for a home win in regular time in the first of our Edmonton Oilers vs Tampa Bay Lightning predictions.
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Edmonton Oilers Odds
Edmonton have endured a stuttering season but they remain right in the mix for the play-offs.
They may trail provincial rivals Calgary by 11 points for the lead in the Pacific Division but they are only one point behind Dallas for the second wildcard spot in the Western Conference.
The Oilers could also be in for a welcome addition, as forward Josh Archibald has missed the entire campaign with myocarditis but participated in fourth-line drills during Friday’s practice.
He also did some work on the Oilers’ penalty kill as he waits for his opportunity to get back into the line-up and that may come against the Lightning.
Defencemen Tyson Barrie and Kris Russell also participated in full practice.
Brad Malone scored his first NHL goal for six years against the Capitals and believes his work ethic helped him get back into the big league after spending the majority of that time in the AHL.
The 32-year-old said: “Probably a lot of outside criticism and doubters in terms of my offensive ability, and I could probably agree with a lot of them on those things, but I think it’s been a really good journey.
“I think I understood who I was as a player and kind of where I fit in things, and I’ve kind of been repeating in the last couple of weeks; just work ethic, detail, and trying to enjoy myself, to be honest, in a professional way.”
It was Malone’s fourth game of the season and only his 20th over the last four seasons.
The Oilers and the Lightning should produce and entertaining game, so 4.0 for Edmonton to win with over 6.5 goals in the match takes the eye from the NHL odds.
Tampa Bay Lightning Odds
Tampa Bay have now slipped five points behind Carolina and state rivals Florida at the top of the Eastern Conference after back-to-back defeats.
The Bolts improved on their performance in Winnipeg in Calgary but still lost 4-1 and it was the first time all season they had suffered consecutive losses in regulation time.
Lightning captain Steven Stamkos is confident his team can come out of this bump in form and turn it on down the stretch.
Stamkos said: “We’re going through a little bit of a bump right now. We’ll correct it.
“But it’s process over outcome at this point. Calgary was a start. That’s a good team over there and they capitalised on their chances.”
Stamkos believes discipline will be key after early penalties cost them in Calgary and wants an improvement in Edmonton.
He added: “We kind of kicked ourselves in the butt a little bit with the two penalties right off the hop. We wanted to start the game better.
“We gave them some momentum. We kill off the first one, we get another one right away, they score. It kills some momentum that we’re trying to establish early in the game.”
Tampa Bay consistently shoot themselves in the foot by allowing the first goal and that might be the case again.
Let’s add 1.95 for Edmonton to break the deadlock to our Oilers vs Lightning predictions.
Additional stats
Last result:
EDMONTON 4-3 Washington (OT)
Calgary 4-1 TAMPA BAY
Season head-to-head: Tampa Bay 5-3 Edmonton
