Nashville Predators vs. Tampa Bay Lightning: Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 12/8/2022

Time: 7 p.m. ET

Venue: Amalie Arena, Tampa, FL

Where to watch: BSSO, BSN

DraftKings: Lightning -205, Predators +175

FanDuel: Lightning -210, Predators +172

BetMGM: Lightning -200, Predators +165

Caesars: Lightning -204, Predators +170

Predators: 12-9-2

Lightning: 15-9-1

The Nashville Predators have found themselves on the right side of things as of late, and they’re doing it in a myriad of ways. For one, their offense has found the back of the net in the last 10 games. In four of their wins, the Predators have scored four goals or more, including in their last two games — impressive wins on the road, on a back-to-back, against the New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders. When they’ve needed goaltending, they’ve also gotten that. In four of those wins, Nashville has also held their opponent to one goal. Of course, when you have Jusse Saros in net, you’re going to win a lot of games, no matter what.

 

Last game, however, was Kevin Lankinen making 48 saves in the 4-1 win over the New York Islanders. For a Nashville club that’s been giving up 3 goals per game while scoring only 2.68, to get that performance from the backup on the second night of a back-to-back was about as tremendous of an effort one could get.

 

"Kevin was great," Nashville coach John Hynes said. "He was very strong down the stretch. It's great to see him get rewarded."

 

Thursday has been a good day for the goal scorers of Nashville. The over has cashed in five of their last six Thursday games, and they’ve also done well when the competition is stacked. The Predators have won four straight against teams with a winning record. They might not be the team that made the playoffs last year, but they’re going to be a nuisance for contenders in the near future.

 

We’ve talked before about how the Tampa Bay Lightning are still trying to find their way after playing so much hockey over the last few years. As of now, I’m still uncertain what to think here. Following a 4-3 overtime win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Dec. 3, the Lightning lost 4-2 to the Detroit Red Wings against former assistant coach Derek Lalonde. Tampa Bay has still won four of its last six, but it’s very difficult to gauge this group on a game-to-game basis right now. The under has come through in three of the last four after the over cashed in three straight. Overall, they’ve won seven of their last 10 and it shouldn’t be much to doubt them. But again, it’s weird.

 

"We weren't ready to play, it was clear," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "It was really disappointing. I thought the boys were ready, but it was clearly a lot of bad habits that we've had as a team at times during the year that came flooding out."

 

If you’re wondering should the under continue to come through with Tampa Bay, it sounds likely. The under is 4-1-1 in the Lightning’s last six when they score two goals or fewer in the last game. That has to do with trying to hunker down defensively after a lackluster effort against Detroit last time out, and Tampa Bay has delivered by going 97-29 in their last 126 after scoring 2 or fewer in their last game.

 

The favorite is 10-2 in the last 12 meetings, while Nashville has lost 10 of the last 12 meetings overall. That plays well into Tampa Bay’s hands and you should feel good about the home team in this one. Lightning win 3-1

Predators are 0-4 in their last four against the Atlantic Division.

Predators are 13-4 off a road win by 2 goals or more the last 3 seasons.

Predators are 18-9 after playing 2 consecutive road games the last 2 seasons.

Lightning are 29-6 at home after a game where they lost the last 3 seasons.

Predators:

Filip Forsberg -- Juuso Parssinen -- Mikael Granlund

Tanner Jeannot -- Colton Sissons -- Matt Duchene

Cole Smith -- Ryan Johansen -- Nino Niederreiter   

Yakov Trenin -- Cody Glass -- Mark Jankowski

Ryan McDonagh -- Roman Josi

Mattias Ekholm -- Alexandre Carrier

Jeremy Lauzon -- Dante Fabbro

Kevin Lankinen

Juuse Saros

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

Points: Filip Forsberg -- 22

Goals: Nino Niederreiter -- 9

Assists: Matt Duchene -- 15

Goalie: Juuse Saros -- 9-6-2, 2.92 GAA, .909 SV%

Points: Nikita Kucherov -- 37

Goals: Steven Stamkos -- 14

Assists: Nikita Kucherov -- 26

Goalie: Andrei Vasilevskiy -- 10-8-1, 2.75 GAA, .909 SV%