Senators Our NHL Odds Pick vs Tampa Bay Lightning

One of the benefits of playing in a division where the leader of the pack is having a dominant season is the ability to somewhat sneak under the radar. The Montreal Canadiens are undoubtedly the cream of the crop in the Atlantic Division, but as they start to struggle a little, they may start to notice the Ottawa Senators sneaking up from behind. Ottawa will continue to play follow the leader when they head to Tampa to face the Lightning on Thursday where the home team is listed as favorite on NHL odds to take the win.

NHL Odds and Game Predictions: Ottawa Senators vs Tampa Bay Lightning

Date: Thursday, December 10th, 2015 Time: 7:30PM Venue: Amalie Arena Opening Line: Tampa Bay -150

Mike Hoffman deserves your #NHLAllStar vote. Here’s why… READ: https://t.co/mR1rXQOqoe pic.twitter.com/Tk8HS2RSZS

— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) December 9, 2015

There were some rough seas for the Senators (15-8-5) to traverse in the early part of the season, but they seem to have righted the ship in a big way, going 7-3-0 in their last 10 games. There is no denying that the Senators are an incredibly fun team to watch, as they seem to adopt a score more than the opponent approach to hockey that makes for some pretty high-scoring games. This is a team that knows their limitations in their own end, and who try to overcome that by launching into all-out attack mode. It seems to be working right now, as their 3.1 goals per game average has them sitting 4th in scoring in the league. They are down near the bottom of the standings in goals against average, which is something they are going to have to address if they want to make the playoffs and make a deep run. They are currently 1-1 on this 4-game road swing, and will be looking to improve upon their 8-4-1 road record before heading back home. This has been something of a disappointing season for the Tampa Bay Lightning (13-12-3) so far, although the top brass seems happy enough, as they just awarded coach Jon Cooper a rather lucrative multi-year contract extension. You have to believe that the extension was more of a reward for what he achieved with this team last year as opposed to what he has done this current season. This is not to suggest that this is a poor team, but they are falling under the expectation line right now. The fact of the matter is that if the season were to end today, the Lightning would be on the outside looking in at the payoffs. They are just a couple of points back of the final Wild Card spot, so there is no reason to hit the panic button just yet. We are all just waiting for Tampa Bay to break out and go on a run, but their 5-4-1 record in the last 10 games suggests that they may be treading water for a little while longer.

Ottawa Senators vs Tampa Bay Lightning Key Betting Trends

Ottawa is 7-3 SU in its last 10 games The total has gone OVER in 6 of Ottawa’s last 8 games The total has gone OVER in 5 of Ottawa’s last 6 games on the road Ottawa is 2-5 SU in its last 7 games when playing on the road against Tampa Bay The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Ottawa’s last 6 games when playing on the road against Tampa Bay Tampa Bay is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games at home Tampa Bay is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games when playing at home against Ottawa The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Tampa Bay’s last 6 games when playing at home against Ottawa

Ottawa Senators vs Tampa Bay Lightning Betting Prediction

The Senators have won 2 of the last 3 games that they have played in Tampa, and they are coming into this one on a good run of form. For me, that all adds up to an Ottawa win on the road.