Tampa Bay Lightning vs Florida Panthers: Game preview, predictions, odds and betting tips for 2024 NHL playoffs Game 2 | April 23rd, 2024

The Florida Panthers will welcome the Tampa Bay Lightning for the Game 2 East first-round NHL playoffs. They lead the series 1-0 after a 3-2 victory in the last game.

The match is scheduled for Tuesday, 7:30 p.m. ET at the Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida. The game will be televised on TVAS2, ESPN2, SN360, BSSUN and BSFL.

Tampa Bay Lightning vs Florida Panthers: Game preview

Tampa Bay Lightning are 45-29-8 overall and 12-10-5 in Atlantic Division games. The team stands eighth in the league with 330 penalties, averaging 4.0 per game.

They are averaging 2.0 goals per game and have a 50% success rate on power plays. On defense, the Lightning allow 3.0 goals per game and successfully defend 66.7% of their opponent's power plays.

In their last 10 games, the Lightning are 4-5-1, averaging 3.6 goals, 6.5 assists, 3.9 penalties and 9.2 penalty minutes, They have conceded 3.1 goals per game.

Brandon Hagel leads the team with one goal. Steven Stamkos has one assist, and Brayden Point has made four shots on goal. In the net, Andrei Vasilevskiy has conceded two goals from 27 shots.

Conversely, the Florida Panthers are 52-24-6 overall and 18-5-4 in Atlantic Division games. They are 23-5-1 in games where their opponents have more penalties.

They have a GFA of 3.0 and convert 33.3% of their power plays. The Panthers have a GAA of 2.0 and neutralize 50% of their opponent's power plays.

The Panthers are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games, averaging 3.4 goals, 5.6 assists, 5.4 penalties, and 13 penalty minutes per game. They concede 2.1 goals per game.

Matthew Tkachuk, Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart lead the team with one goal, two assists and five shots on goal, respectively. Guarding the goal, Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 17 of the 19 shots he faced.

Tampa Bay Lightning vs Florida Panthers: Injury report

Haydn Fleury and Tyler Motte of the Lightning are listed as day-to-day due to upper-body and lower-body injury, respectively. Jonas Johansson and Mikhail Sergachev are both sidelined with lower-body injury.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson of the Panthers suffered an upper-body injury. He is also marked as day-to-day.

Tampa Bay Lightning vs Florida Panthers: Head-to-head and significant numbers

The Panthers and the Lightning have competed against each other in 168 games, with the Panthers leading 80-59-10-19.

The Lightning average 29.3% shots per game, while the Panthers 33.7%.

Tampa Bay Lightning vs Florida Panthers: Odds and prediction

Florida has won 47 out of 67 games and is favored by the odds. It was 20-10 when the odds were less than -183. This gives the team a 64.7% probability of winning Tuesday's game.

The Lightning have been the underdogs on 30 occasions and upset their opponents 12 times. Tampa Bay has never been a more significant underdog than the +152 odds for this game. The team has a 39.7% chance of winning.

Prediction: Panthers 4 - 3 Lightning

Tampa Bay Lightning vs Florida Panthers: Betting tips

Tip 1: Panthers to win.

Tip 2: Total goals over 5: Yes.

Tip 3: Brayden Point to score anytime: Yes.

Tip 4: Matthew Tkachuk to score first: Yes.

Tip 5: Lightning to beat the spread: Yes.