In the NHL’s Atlantic Division, the rivalry between the Boston Bruins and the Tampa Bay Lightning represents the top two teams in the division, far and away. Boston (41-13-12, 94 points) leads Tampa Bay (41-19-5, 87 points) by seven points, while the Lightning hold a game in hand. The teams have an almost identical goal differential on the season, as the Bruins sit at +51 and the Lightning sit at +47. Tampa Bay has made a spirited run at the Bruins in the division before faltering recently. Now the two teams are set to square off down in Florida on Tuesday as the Bruins have the second game of their road trip in Tampa. Can the Bruins add some distance between themselves and Tampa Bay? Or will the Lightning close the gap? Don’t miss our sports betting preview of this Tuesday night matchup. Let’s see how the NHL odds will be for the Bruins vs Lightning.
Bruins vs Lightning 2020 NHL Game Preview & Betting Odds
- When: Tuesday, March 3, 2020, 7:30 pm ET
- Where: Amalie Arena, Tampa, FL
- TV: NBC Sports
- Radio: WBZ 98.5 FM Boston / WFLA 970 AM Tampa Bay
- Live Stream: NBCSports.com
- NHL Odds: Tampa Bay Lightning -1.5 / Total 6
Why you should bet on Boston
Boston completed a swing through Western Canada that was mostly successful until they hit Vancouver, where they gave up nine goals. Then they returned home to face the Calgary Flames and were dealt a 5-2 shellacking. After that, though, they held off Dallas, 4-3, and then they started their next road swing with a 4-0 tattooing of the New York Islanders.
In that shutout win, Tuukka Rask stood tall in net, stopping all 25 shots that he faced. Defenseman Charlie McAvoy put up a goal and two assists, and David Pastrnak got the scoring going with his 47th goal of the 2019-20 season, best in the NHL, at the 4:30 mark of the first period. Matt Grzelcyk and Brad Marchand scored the two other Boston goals. That win made Boston 7-2-0 in their last nine road games overall. If you like Boston on Tuesday night, you see that road resolve carrying over against a Tampa Bay team that will be missing captain Steven Stamkos (core muscle surgery) for the rest of the regular season.
Why you should put your money on Tampa Bay
The Tampa Bay Lightning had been pushing hard to catch Boston in the Atlantic Division standings, but then they went on a four-game losing streak that saw them outscored by a combined 21-11 by Vegas, Arizona, Toronto and Chicago. Then they turned things around on Saturday when the Calgary Flames came to town, winning 4-3.
In that game, Tampa Bay got three goals on special teams, as Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat tallied on the power play, while Yanni Gourde put a short-handed goal in the Calgary net. Alex Killorn added the fourth Tampa Bay score. In net, Andrei Vasilevskiy had a relatively quiet night, only seeing 21 shots and stopping 18 of them. Given that the Lightning had just learned that they were about to lose Stamkos for the rest of the regular season, they came out with a lot of motivation. We are a little over a month from the start of the Stanley Cup playoffs, and if the Lightning are to hold home ice advantage at least in the first round, they would need to hold onto second place in the division. The Lightning did get right winger Pat Maroon back from injury for the Calgary game; while that’s not the same as getting Stamkos back, every healthy skater helps. If you like Tampa Bay, you see them moving with the same motivation that got them past the Flames.
Bruins vs Lightning Final Score Prediction
Boston has shown determination all season long after losing the Stanley Cup Finals in seven games to St. Louis last year. I do see Tampa Bay coming out ready to skate, but Boston should take charge of this game and win. I predict a final score of Boston 3, Tampa Bay 2.
