by Chuck Sommers
Friday, Feb 11, 2022
Time: 9:30 p.m. ET
Venue: Gila River Arena, Glendale, AZ
Where to watch: BSSUN, BSAZ+
Opening Odds at USA Sportsbooks
DraftKings: Lightning -310, Coyotes +245
BetMGM: NL
Caesars: NL
Season record
Lightning: 30-11-6
Coyotes: 12-31-4
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Lightning - Coyotes preview and analysis
The Tampa Bay Lightning are finding out the hard way that it’s going to eventually be difficult to three-peat as Stanley Cup champions, especially when there are teams like the Colorado Avalanche waiting in the wings. They learned that on Thursday when Tampa lost to Colorado in what many still hold on to as a potential Cup Final matchup.
But the Lightning won’t have a lot of time to dwell on a loss to the top team in the NHL, considering they have a back-to-back Friday against the Arizona Coyotes in what should be a bounce-back effort from the champs.
The Lightning have not missed a beat despite playing the most hockey out of any team over the past two seasons. At 30-11-6, Tampa Bay is sitting in second in the Atlantic Division behind the Florida Panthers and are trailing in percentage points to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
But the champs keep finding ways to rack up points, even though the 3-2 loss at Colorado on Thursday may have set them back a tad. Brayden Point had a goal and an assist, and Nikita Kucherov added the other goal, but Andrei Vasilevskiy was bested by Darcy Kuemper on this night.
“Clearly, we were very slow and mismanaged the puck (early),” Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh said. “A team like that will make us pay and they certainly did. Unfortunately, we dug ourselves a hole, but we did start to find a little bit more of a game that we like to play. Two good teams fighting for every inch out there.”
Of course this game won't have any bearing on how the end of the season shapes up. The lightning will always be considered a contender, and at the very least, the favorites to win the whole thing yet again for a third straight year. So we really can't take one game against the best team in the league, even without Nathan MacKinnon, and hold it against them.
Especially when they're playing on the second night of a back-to-back against the lowly Arizona Coyotes, who now will be playing the next few years inside of a college hockey stadium that seats 5000 people. Not that that has anything to do with this game on Friday, but it just goes to show you that from the top down, the coyotes are a hot mess.
Arizona did get a win on Wednesday at Seattle for at least some sort of relieving sigh coming out of the All-Star break. But we're talking about two teams that for what it's worth, are completely different and the talent gap has never been wider than it will be in this matchup.
Even if Vasilevskiy does not start, which is highly likely after playing against Colorado, the offensive firepower with Tampa will overwhelm Arizona in a grand way. In general, I would tell you to completely stay away from this game given that the lightning are laying 320 on the money line. If you want to play it, be my guest. But don't waste your time. This one will be over quick. Lightning win 5-1
Betting trends
The Lightning are 80-40 (+9.1 units on the money line) in the second half of the season in the past three seasons.
The Lightning are 31-19 in non-conference games the past three seasons.
The Coyotes are 36-94 when revenging a loss to an opponent by three goals or more.
Projected lines
Lightning:
Ondrej Palat -- Brayden Point -- Nikita Kucherov
Alex Killorn -- Steven Stamkos -- Anthony Cirelli
Pat Maroon -- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare -- Corey Perry
Mathieu Joseph -- Ross Colton -- Taylor Raddysh
Victor Hedman -- Jan Rutta
Ryan McDonagh -- Mikhail Sergachev
Darren Raddysh -- Cal Foote
Brian Elliott
Ondrej Palat -- Brayden Point -- Nikita Kucherov
Alex Killorn -- Steven Stamkos -- Anthony Cirelli
Pat Maroon -- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare -- Corey Perry
Mathieu Joseph -- Ross Colton -- Taylor Raddysh
Victor Hedman -- Jan Rutta
Ryan McDonagh -- Mikhail Sergachev
Darren Raddysh -- Cal Foote
Brian Elliott
Coyotes:
Clayton Keller -- Alex Galchenyuk -- Nick Schmaltz
Lawson Crouse -- Travis Boyd -- Phil Kessel
Antoine Roussel -- Riley Nash -- Christian Fischer
Loui Eriksson -- Ryan Dzingel -- Andrew Ladd
Shayne Gostisbehere -- Dysin Mayo
Janis Moser -- Anton Stralman
Jakob Chychrun -- Ilya Lyubushkin
Karel Vejmelka
Clayton Keller -- Alex Galchenyuk -- Nick Schmaltz
Lawson Crouse -- Travis Boyd -- Phil Kessel
Antoine Roussel -- Riley Nash -- Christian Fischer
Loui Eriksson -- Ryan Dzingel -- Andrew Ladd
Shayne Gostisbehere -- Dysin Mayo
Janis Moser -- Anton Stralman
Jakob Chychrun -- Ilya Lyubushkin
Karel Vejmelka
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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.
