Face-off: 2200 ET, 13/03/2022
Arena: Rogers Arena
Tampa Bay have suffered three straight defeats on their road trip to Canada and will be determined to stop the rot when visiting Vancouver.
The Lightning are now looking over their shoulders at Toronto and Boston in terms of securing a top-three finish in the Atlantic Division.
That should spur them into action at Rogers Arena and 2.05 for an away win in regular time heads our Vancouver Canucks vs Tampa Bay Lightning predictions.
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Vancouver Canucks Odds
Vancouver boosted their hopes of making the playoffs with a hat-trick of wins this month and picked up another point in a 4-3 overtime loss to Washington here.
Bo Horvat scored twice, while Quinn Hughes had a goal and two assists, as the Canucks fought back from 2-0 down to lead in the third period, only for the Caps to rally again.
“Obviously, we’re happy to fight back at the end of the third but ultimately we wanted those two points – all the points from here on out are going to be huge for us,” said Horvat.
“I thought it was great character by us to come all the way back and get that point. Just unfortunate that we couldn’t get the job done.”
JT Miller had two assists to extend his hot streak and make it 23 points in 11 games, so Vancouver have to be respected on current form.
However, we still prefer 3.4 for Tampa Bay to prevail and both teams to score at least twice from the NHL odds.
Tampa Bay Lightning Odds
Tampa Bay looked in good health when winning 6-3 at Chicago to make it seven victories out of eight but Canada has not been a happy hunting ground so far.
The Lightning went down 7-4 at Winnipeg on Tuesday, 4-1 at Calgary on Thursday and then 4-1 at Edmonton just last night.
Zach Bogosian scored against the Oilers to make it 2-1 halfway through the third period, but that was as close as they got.
“When things aren’t going well for you, you invent ways to shoot yourself in the foot,” moaned coach Jon Cooper.
“Whether it’s turnovers, taking too many penalties, we’re finding ways on this road trip to make it hard on ourselves.
“If you’re going to take that many penalties and you’re going to put some of the best players in the world on the ice all night, it’s going to be tough for you.”
Tampa Bay can take heart from having beaten the Canucks 4-2 at home in January, though, and have won six of the last seven meetings in Vancouver.
Another key factor in their favour is that the Lightning are 6-0-1 in the second leg of back-to-back double-headers this term!
Nikita Kucherov has recorded multiple points in three-straight games versus Vancouver and is 2.55 for the same bet here.
Let’s also add 1.85 for Victor Hedman to make it four consecutive encounters with an assist in our Canucks vs Lightning predictions.
Additional stats
Last result:
VANCOUVER 3-4 Washington (OT)
Edmonton 4-1 TAMPA BAY
Season head-to-head: Tampa Bay 4-2 Vancouver
