Vegas Golden Knights vs. Tampa Bay Lightning: Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 3/9/2023

Time: 7 p.m. ET

Venue: Amalie Arena, Tampa, FL

Where to watch: BSSUN, ATTSN-RM

DraftKings: Lightning -156, Golden Knights +134

BetMGM: Lightning -156, Golden Knights +134

Caesars: Lightning -156, Golden Knights +134

Golden Knights: 38-20-6

Lightning: 38-21-5

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The Vegas Golden Knights will be playing the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday, March 9 in Tampa, Florida.

The Vegas Golden Knights lost against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday, March 7 at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida with a score of 2-1. The Vegas Golden Knights currently rank 1st in the Pacific Division.

Shea Theodore scored, and Adin Hill made 40 saves for the Golden Knights (38-20-6), who had won three in a row and nine of 12 (9-1-2).

Vegas is tied for first with the Los Angeles Kings, who have played one more game, for first in the Pacific Division.

"We weren't ready to start the game," Theodore said. "That's kind of where it came down to bite us. Thought we played great in the second and third, but you definitely need better starts down the stretch here."

Florida scored two goals before Theodore cut it to 2-1 at 13:23 with a power-play goal when he beat Bobrovsky with a shot from the point.

"We stayed in the game, which was good," Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. "The way we start, we're never going to hang our hat on that, that's for sure. But after the first period, you sort of wonder, how's it going to go? And we eventually got ourselves in the game just because we were more competitive.

"When we start competing, we have good skill in the room, good talent, and all of a sudden, that'll start to surface. But you've got to be ready when the puck drops. And they were, we weren't. So, we'll take that part, the second part of the game."

Florida, which defeated Pittsburgh 4-1 on Saturday, is 2-1-0 on its season-long seven-game homestand.

The Golden Knights opened a five-game road trip that continues Thursday at the Tampa Bay Lightning.

"We've had stretches where we've bounced back really quick," Theodore said. "I think especially this time of the year that's what we need to do."

The Vegas Golden Knights have won six of their last 10 games.

The Tampa Bay Lightning won against the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday, March 7 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida with a score of 5-2. The Tampa Bay Lightning currently rank 3rd in the Atlantic Division.

Alex Killorn and Nikita Kucherov each had two goals and an assist, and the Tampa Bay Lightning ended a five-game skid.

Andrei Vasilevskiy made 33 saves, and Mikhail Sergachev had two assists for the Lightning (38-21-5), who went 3-for-6 on the power play. They were 0-4-1 during the skid.

Tampa Bay remained five points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs for second place in the Atlantic Division. Toronto rallied for a 4-3 win at the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday.

"This was big, especially when you go the way we were going it was tough," Killorn said. "To be at home and win, that's a good feeling. This is just the first step. We need to start building momentum. This was kind of a litmus-test game, but we want to keep going the right way."

Morgan Frost gave the Flyers a 1-0 at 5:52 of the first period, but Killorn tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal, knocking in a feed from Kucherov at 7:38.

Kucherov gave Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead, also on the man-advantage, 34 seconds into the second period, a one-timer from the right circle.

"The power play was on tonight," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "But to rebound after going down 1-0, that was big for me. The boys took it home after that."

Ross Colton made it 3-1 at 8:46 with a shot from close range off a pass from Tanner Jeannot, who has three assists in five games for Tampa Bay since being acquired in a trade from the Nashville Predators on Feb. 26.

"It was nice to gel a little bit tonight," Colton said. "We're trying to form an identity for what our line (Colton, Jeannot, Nicholas Paul) is going to be. It's our second or third game together.

"On that goal I give credit to 'Paulie' and Tanner, who cycled the puck well and Tanner kind of gift-wrapped it for me to tap in."

Killorn gave the Lightning a 4-1 lead at 10:49 when he caught Hart out of position and stuffed the puck in from the right circle.

Brenden Lemieux cut it to 4-2 at 12:40 with his first goal of the season, a redirection from Cam York.

After Flyers defenseman Tony DeAngelo received a five-minute major penalty for spearing Lightning forward Corey Perry, Kucherov scored on the power play again at 17:38 with a backhand for the 5-2 final.

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

Prediction

If Jonathan Quick can do the thing, give him the key to the city. Lightning 4, Golden Knights 3

Golden Knights:

Ivan Barbashev -- Jack Eichel -- Jonathan Marchessault

Reilly Smith -- William Karlsson -- Michael Amadio

Paul Cotter -- Chandler Stephenson -- Phil Kessel

Brett Howden - Teddy Blueger -- Keegan Kolesar

Alec Martinez -- Alex Pietrangelo

Brayden McNabb -- Shea Theodore

Nicolas Hague -- Zach Whitecloud

Jonathan Quick

Lightning:

Brandon Hagel -- Brayden Point -- Nikita Kucherov

Steven Stamkos -- Anthony Cirelli -- Alex Killorn

Tanner Jeannot -- Nicholas Paul -- Corey Perry

Michael Eyssimont -- Ross Colton -- Pat Maroon

Victor Hedman -- Zach Bogosian

Mikhail Sergachev -- Darren Raddysh

Ian Cole -- Nick Perbix

Andrei Vasilevskiy