by Chuck Sommers
Tuesday, Dec 06, 2022
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Venue: Amalie Arena, Tampa, FL
Where to watch: BSSUNX, BSDET, SNP, SNW, SNE
Opening Odds at USA Sportsbooks
DraftKings: Lightning -230, Red Wings +195
FanDuel: Lightning -230, Red Wings +188
BetMGM: Lightning -222, Red Wings +180
Caesars: Lightning -235, Red Wings +192
Season record
Red Wings: 12-7-5
Lightning: 15-8-1
Two months into the NHL season, and man, what action we’ve had. So much parity, so many good teams through the first 10-plus games, you have every right to be excited! It’s still a three-team race between Vegas, Boston and New Jersey. But this is a good time to be playing these hockey games, as well. Look no further than our own Doc's Sports on a 14-7-0 run over the first 30 days of the NHL season. There's also ASA, Inc. posting a 12-5-1 mark through the first month. You know you can trust our champion handicappers to get you across the finish line with your NHL bets. Check out our Best Bets page at bigal.com to see what we're throwing down!
Red Wings - Lightning preview, prediction and analysis
Recent results
Red Wings: won 4-2 at Blue Jackets on Sunday
Lightning: won 4-3 (OT) vs. Maple Leafs on Saturday
Red Wings analysis
The Detroit Red Wings continue to be a very weird team. Just when you think that they are finally able to turn the corner and take that next step into becoming a really good team, they find themselves losing three straight games and are giving up a bunch of goals in the process.
Detroit, however is coming off a 4-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday to end a three-game losing streak. Andrew Copp had a goal, and Filip Hronek continued his tremendous season with two assists on the day.
But once again, as per usual with young teams, the Red Wings found themselves up 3-0 and then nearly gave the game away with two goals in the second and third period. It's really weird to see how this team functions as a pertains to figuring out what kind of team they are with all of this young Talent. There is plenty of room left to grow for this group, and they will learn a great deal on Tuesday against the Tampa Bay Lightning. This will be an important game for new head coach Derek Lalonde as he faces the team where he was an assistant for the first time.
Detroit has a lot of interesting pieces in which it tries to figure out where they are in the totem pole. Right now, the Red Wings are only two points back of the lightning for third place in the Atlantic division which says a lot right now. Depending on who goes in net tomorrow oh, and it will likely be Ville Husso, Detroit is going to be in for a dogfight.
Lightning analysis
Don't look now, but the Tampa Bay Lightning appear to have found their groove. Despite losing to the Boston Bruins last week, Tampa Bay bounce back with and expected win over the Philadelphia Flyers and Then followed that with an overtime victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs last time out, 4-3.
Alex Killorn scored the game-winning overtime goal 33 seconds into the extra frame, while Nikita Kucherov also added his 11th goal of the season in which all he is doing is putting up points like it's nobody's business.
Tampa Bay's winning games right now which, in realistic terms, is very good for the collective mindset of the three-time Eastern Conference champions. But with Tampa, there is some concern as it pertains to the depth on the blue line as well as how much more can Andrei Vasilevskiy give this team when it needs it the most?
I’m not sure if it has anything to do with them being a veteran team, but the Lightning should be able to handle the problems that persist with facing a young team, and contain the Red Wings all game long.
Prediction
Really interested to see if this pans out to being a goaltending battle, or just a wide-open type of game. Either way, it favors the Lightning in a big way. Lightning win 5-3
Betting trends
Red Wings are 18-15 after losing 3 of 4 the last 2 seasons.
Lightning are 92-81 at home after winning 4 of their last 5 since 1996.
Lightning are 10-3 off a win by one goal against a division opponent the last 2 seasons.
Projected lines
Red Wings:
Dominik Kubalik -- Dylan Larkin -- David Perron
Pius Suter -- Michael Rasmussen -- Lucas Raymond
Adam Erne -- Andrew Copp -- Oskar Sundqvist
Jonatan Berggren -- Joe Veleno - Austin Czarnik
Ben Chiarot -- Moritz Seider
Olli Maatta -- Filip Hronek
Jake Walman -- Jordan Oesterle
Ville Husso
Lightning:
Brandon Hagel -- Brayden Point -- Nikita Kucherov
Steven Stamkos -- Nicholas Paul -- Alex Killorn
Vladislav Namestnikov -- Anthony Cirelli -- Ross Colton
Pat Maroon -- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare -- Corey Perry
Victor Hedman -- Mikhail Sergachev
Ian Cole -- Erik Cernak
Zach Bogosian -- Nick Perbix
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Statistical leaders
Red Wings:
Points: Dylan Larkin – 26
Goals: Dominik Kubalik – 10
Assists: Dylan Larkin – 17
Goalie: Ville Husso – 10-4-3, 2.58 GAA, .912 SV%
Lightning:
Points: Nikita Kucherov – 36
Goals: Steven Stamkos – 13
Assists: Nikita Kucherov – 25
Goalie: Andrei Vasilevskiy – 9-7-1, 2.78 GAA, .909 SV%
Don't miss our champion handicappers' free picks and expert hockey picks today. And if you enjoyed this Detroit Red Wings - Tampa Bay Lightning prediction, be sure to drop by every day for our daily NHL projections and previews.
Chuck Sommers
About the Author:
Chuck Sommers has camped outside of sportsbooks since he can remember, learning the tricks and nuances of the trade. He still has nightmares of betting $5,000 on the Raiders in the Tuck Rule game but has since turned that to 25 years of veteran handicapping greatness. You can find him mostly in the shadows at the Red Rock or Aliante casinos wondering if the over is cashing on any given Sunday.
