by Chuck Sommers
Tuesday, Apr 19, 2022
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Venue: Amalie Arena, Tampa, FL
Where to watch: Bally Sports Detroit, Bally Sports Sun
Opening Odds at USA Sportsbooks
DraftKings: Lightning -550, Red Wings +400
BetMGM: Lightning -550, Red Wings +360
Caesars: Lightning -556, Red Wings +400
Season record
Red Wings: 29-37-10
Lightning: 46-21-8
Ben Burns has reeled off a strong 29-14-0 run over the last month in the NHL. After an action-packed month of March, April is bound to be just as crazy with the playoff push underway. Do you have the right picks to lead you to glory and get you ready for what should be an exciting push to the end? Catch Ben's plays available right now at the Shop Picks page, where you can find all of the Best Bets from our champion sports handicappers.
Red Wings - Lightning preview and analysis
It hasn’t been a great stretch of hockey for the Tampa Bay Lightning over the past few weeks as they try and secure home-ice advantage and/or try to avoid a wild-card matchup with the Carolina Hurricanes.
As the age-old adage goes, there’s nothing like a good old fashioned beatdown of the Detroit Red Wings to fix that conundrum. The latest edition of the Steve Yzerman Bowl continues Tuesday when the two-time defending champs host the struggling Red Wings at Amalie Arena.
The Lightning are just 5-3-2 in their last 10 but have won consecutive games following a 7-4 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday. Per usual, the big boys came ready to play with Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman having four points each as the Lightning scored five straight to complete the rally.
Tampa stayed 3 points ahead of the Boston Bruins for third place in the Atlantic Division and it seems that we are closer to a Tampa-Toronto first-round matchup to just make all the hockey gods go mad.
"Hopefully we can just build off that third [period]," said Lightning captain Steven Stamkos. "That was kind of the hockey we're accustomed to playing. Playing with confidence and poise and just making the right reads and defending hard."
Despite this slow build to 100 points for the fifth time in nine seasons, anyone discounting the Lightning from going on a potential 3-peat just doesn’t believe how good they are. And until they completely lose their way in the postseason, no one on this planet should be discrediting the Lightning until they’re not winning the Cup again.
"I think we needed something to pull us in the fight," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "The first shift kind of said it all -- we were a little passive and we weren't finishing. I give Winnipeg a ton of credit, they went back to back and they played hard."
Fortunately for them, the Red Wings come into town with horrendous play. There’s not much more that can be said regarding Detroit because this poor team that was off to such a strong start has hit a wall and will look to rebuild for next season.
To go from playing the Florida Panthers to the Lightning seems like a horrible way to get through a weekend, but that’s the way it is. The Panthers easily manhandled the Red Wings 6-1 on Sunday in an easy victory for the top team in the Eastern Conference. Alex Nedeljkovic had 33 saves for their fourth loss in five games.
"We didn't respond," Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin said. "They got two quick goals and we didn't do anything to get back into the game. They got rolling and we didn't stop them."
Prediction
The Lightning have taken the first four meetings rather convincingly so far this season, and we really shouldn’t expect anything different with this group. Kucherov has six points in the last five games, with four of them as goals. It’s hard to see any team to stop him, let alone Detroit, in such an easy game. Lightning win 5-1
Betting trends
Red Wings are 13-9 this season following a division game.
Red Wings are 15-22 this season after losing four or five of their last six.
Red Wings are 8-18 the past three seasons off three or more straight unders.
Lightning are 29-33 the past three seasons after two or more overs.
Lightning are 19-11 following a non-conference game this season.
Projected lines
Red Wings:
Tyler Bertuzzi -- Dylan Larkin -- Lucas Raymond
Filip Zadina -- Pius Suter -- Jakub Vrana
Adam Erne -- Michael Rasmussen -- Sam Gagner
Joe Veleno -- Chase Pearson -- Mitchell Stephens
Danny DeKeyser -- Moritz Seider
Marc Staal -- Filip Hronek
Gustav Lindstrom -- Jake Walman
Alex Nedeljkovic
Tyler Bertuzzi -- Dylan Larkin -- Lucas Raymond
Filip Zadina -- Pius Suter -- Jakub Vrana
Adam Erne -- Michael Rasmussen -- Sam Gagner
Joe Veleno -- Chase Pearson -- Mitchell Stephens
Danny DeKeyser -- Moritz Seider
Marc Staal -- Filip Hronek
Gustav Lindstrom -- Jake Walman
Alex Nedeljkovic
Lightning:
Nicholas Paul -- Brayden Point -- Nikita Kucherov
Ondrej Palat -- Steven Stamkos -- Ross Colton
Alex Killorn -- Anthony Cirelli -- Brandon Hagel
Pat Maroon -- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare -- Corey Perry
Victor Hedman -- Jan Rutta
Ryan McDonagh -- Erik Cernak
Mikhail Sergachev -- Zach Bogosian
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Nicholas Paul -- Brayden Point -- Nikita Kucherov
Ondrej Palat -- Steven Stamkos -- Ross Colton
Alex Killorn -- Anthony Cirelli -- Brandon Hagel
Pat Maroon -- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare -- Corey Perry
Victor Hedman -- Jan Rutta
Ryan McDonagh -- Erik Cernak
Mikhail Sergachev -- Zach Bogosian
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Statistical leaders
Red Wings:
Points: Dylan Larkin -- 69
Goals: Dylan Larkin -- 31
Assists: Moritz Seider -- 41
Goalie: Alex Nedeljkovic -- 19-22-9, 3.33 GAA, .901 SV%
Lightning:
Points: Steven Stamkos -- 84
Goals: Steven Stamkos -- 33
Assists: Victor Hedman -- 53
Goalie: Andrei Vasilevskiy -- 35-17-5, 2.46 GAA, .917 SV%
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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.
