Florida Panthers vs. Tampa Bay Lightning: Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 2/28/2023

Time: 7 p.m. ET

Venue: Amalie Arena, Tampa, FL

Where to watch: BSSUN, BSFL, SNO, SNE, TVAS

DraftKings: Lightning -165, Panthers +140

FanDuel: Lightning -170, Panthers +140

BetMGM: Lightning -160, Panthers +135

Caesars: Lightning -164, Panthers +140

Panthers: 29-26-6

Lightning: 37-18-4

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The Florida Panthers will be playing the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday, February 28 in Tampa, Florida.

The Florida Panthers lost against the Buffalo Sabres last Friday, February 24 at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida with a score of 3-1. The Florida Panthers currently rank 5th in the Atlantic Division.

Anthony Duclair had an assist in his season debut for the Panthers (29-26-6), who have alternated wins and losses in their past eight games. Sergei Bobrovsky made 30 saves.

Duclair had been on long term injured reserve while recovering from an Achilles injury in the offseason. He finished with four shots and five hits in 17:26 of ice time.

"I was just trying to find my legs in the first, felt better in the second and by the third I was pretty comfortable," Duclair said. "It was just a question of timing and finding chemistry. All in all, after being out for seven months, I think I should be proud of myself."

Buffalo scored two goals before Carter Verhaeghe cut it to 2-1 at 8:24 of the third period with a shot from the right face-off circle after taking a pass from Duclair.

"This was a huge home game and it is really disappointing to have the first two periods like that," Verhaeghe said. "It [stinks]. We're in a playoff push and there is nothing we can do about it now. We have to be ready moving forward."

Buffalo scored the final goal with a score of 3-1.

The Florida Panthers have won six of their last 10 games.

The Tampa Bay Lightning lost against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday, February 26 at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with a score of 7-3. The Tampa Bay Lightning currently rank 3rd in the Atlantic Division.

Nikita Kucherov had a goal and an assist to surpass 700 NHL points for the Lightning (37-18-4), who were coming off a 3-0 win at the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday and are 2-2-2 in their past six games. Brian Elliott made 29 saves.

"It just unraveled," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "I haven't been a part of that, I don't know if ever, in this league. I guess it happens at times. Just doesn't feel very good when it happens to you."

Drew O'Connor put Pittsburgh ahead 1-0 at 3:20 of the first period with a redirection in front. Anthony Cirelli tied it 1-1 at 16:06 when the rebound of Zach Bogosian's slap shot deflected in off his shin.

Kucherov gave Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead at 18:05, chipping in his own rebound during a 4-on-4.

"To get 700 points in this league is remarkable," Cooper said of Kucherov, who has 269 goals and 432 assists in 621 NHL games. "To do it in like 600-plus games or whatever he did, in a bleak night, that's a little bit of a shining moment. So we'll hang our hat on that."

Evgeni Malkin tied it 2-2 at 6:17 of the second period, receiving a stretch pass from Josh Archibald as he exited the penalty box before scoring five-hole on a breakaway. Sidney Crosby put the Penguins in front 3-2 with a power-play goal at 15:28, finishing a backhand pass from Jake Guentzel at the right post.

"Obviously, take that penalty there and they score on the power play," Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said. "Kind of sucked the life out of us a little bit. I don't know the details, but that was obviously tough. I thought it was a decent game before that."

Pittsburgh scored four more goals before Brayden Point made it 7-3 at 7:57 of the third period, scoring from the low slot off a set up by Kucherov for a power-play goal.

The Tampa Bay Lightning have won five of their last 10 games.

Prediction

This is a very important week for the Panthers in terms of how they want to address their team and improve for a playoff run. Hard to do that in Tampa where a team has your number. Lightning 4, Panthers 2

Panthers are 5-10 when playing a second game in 5 days this season.

Panthers are 19-12 off a home loss the last 3 seasons.

Lightning are 42-13 after losing 2 of 3 the last 3 seasons.

Lightning are 75-51 after an over the last 3 seasons.

Panthers:

Carter Verhaeghe -- Eetu Luostarinen -- Matthew Tkachuk

Anthony Duclair -- Anton Lundell -- Sam Reinhart

Ryan Lomberg -- Eric Staal -- Nick Cousins

Grigori Denisenko -- Colin White -- Zac Dalpe

Gustav Forsling -- Aaron Ekblad

Marc Staal -- Brandon Montour

Josh Mahura -- Radko Gudas

Sergei Bobrovsky

Lightning:

Brandon Hagel -- Brayden Point -- Nikita Kucherov

Alex Killorn -- Anthony Cirelli -- Steven Stamkos

Ross Colton -- Nicholas Paul -- Vladislav Namestnikov

Pat Maroon -- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare -- Corey Perry

Victor Hedman -- Zach Bogosian

Mikhail Sergachev -- Nick Perbix

Ian Cole -- Cal Foote

Andrei Vasilevskiy