Lightning vs. Avalanche prediction, odds, pick, how to watch - 11/27/2023
The Colorado Avalanche look to continue their winning streak as they face the Tampa Bay Lightning . It is time to continue our NHL odds series with a Lightning-Avalanche prediction, pick, and how-to-watch.
The Lightning come into the game sitting at 10-6-5 on the year. That places them in a tie for third in the Atlantic division, tied with the Red Wings, but with one more game played this year. Last time out, they played the Carolina Hurricanes . The Hurricanes scored in the first period with under two minutes left to take the 1-0 lead into the second period. In the second, Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov, and Brayden Point all scored on the power play in the first six minutes to give them a 3-1 lead. Michael Bunting scored on the power play to make it 3-2 going into the third. In the third period, Point would add two more goals, while the Lightning scored five to win 8-2.
Meanwhile, the Avalanche are 14-6-0 on the year, which is tops in the Central Division . They have won six of their last seven and last time out faced the Calgary Flames. The Avalanche opened the scoring at the 6:31 mark of the first on a Jonathan Drouin power play goal. In the second period, Ryan Johansen made it 2-0, but the Flames answered back under two minutes later. Just 24 seconds later, Nathan MacKinnon scored to increase the lead to 3-1, which would be the final score as the Avalanche won.
Here are the NHL Odds , courtesy of FanDuel.
NHL Odds: Lightning-Avalanche Odds
Tampa Bay Lightning: +122
Colorado Avalanche: -146
Over: 6.5 (-110)
Under: 6.5 (-110)
How to Watch Lightning vs. Avalanche
Time: 9:00 PM ET/ 6:00 PM PT
TV: NHLPP/ESPN+
Stream: fuboTV ( Click for free trial )
Why The Lightning Will Win
The Lighting comes into the game led by Nikita Kucherov. He leads the NHL in goals and points on the year while sitting fourth in the NHL in assists this year. Kucherov has 15 goals on the season with 20 assists to give him 35 points. He has been amazing on the power play this year, with six goals and 12 assists on the season. Meanwhile, he is joined by Brayden Point and Brandon Hagel on the top line. Point is second on the team in points this year, having 11 goals and 18 assists this year for 29 points. He has six goals and seven assists on the power play as well. Hagel comes into the game with ten goals and 12 assists on the year, good for 22 points this year.
Meanwhile, third on the team in points is Steven Stamkos. He has nine goals this year with 14 assists for his 23 points. Like Kucherov and Point, he is doing a lot of work on the power play. He has four goals and ten assists on the power play this year. He is joined by Nicholas Paul on the second rotation. Paul comes into the game with eight goals this year and three assists. He has also scored a lot on the power play, with five goals and an assist this year. Meanwhile, the Lightning get offense from their blue line. Victor Hedman comes in with four goals and 18 assists on the year, while Mikhail Sergachev comes in with two goals and 13 assists.
On the year, the Lightning sit fourth in the NHL in goals per game this year, with 3.71 goals per game this year. They are second in the NHL on the power play as well this year, with a 34.7 percent conversion percentage. They have also been solid on the penalty kill, sitting tenth in the NHL this year with an 84.4 percent kill rate.
Andrei Vasilevskiy is expected to make the start for the Lightning in this one. He is coming off his first start of the year after being out to start the season with an injury. In that game, he allowed just two goals on 24 shots. That gave him a .917 percent save percentage and a win for Vasilevskiy.
Why The Avalanche Will Win
The Avalanche, they are led by Cale Makar. He is fifth in the NHL in points this year while sitting tied for first in assists on the year. Makar comes in with five goals and 25 assists on the year for his 30 points. Makar also has been solid on the power play this year. He has one goal and nine assists on the power play this year, while he also has three assists shorthanded this year. Two guys are tied for second on the team in points. Mikko Rantanen leads the team in goals this year with 12, and he also has 14 assists this year for his 14 points. Rantanen also has three goals and six assists on the power play this year.
Meanwhile, Nathan MacKinnon comes in with seven goals and 19 assists this year for his 26 points. He has nine assists on the power play as well this year. Meanwhile, Valeri Nichushkin has been solid this year. He comes into the game with nine goals this year and ten assists for his 19 points. He has been the top on the power play this year, with five goals when man-up this year. Meanwhile, Ryan Johansen is second on the team in power-play goals this year. He has four power-play goals this year out of his seven total goals.
The Avalanche are third in the NHL with 3.75 goals per game this year. Meanwhile, they have been middle of the road on the power play. The Avalanche sit 19th in the NHL on the power play this year at a 19.8 percent power play conversion rate. They have been great on the penalty kill as well. They are fifth in the NHL when man-down with an 87.5 percent kill rate.
The Avalanche are expected to start Alexandar Georgiev in between the pipes in this one. He is 12-5-0 on the year with a 2.95 goals-against average and a .892 save percentage. He has been solid in his last two games, with save percentages over .900 in both with only two goals allowed in each. That has given him two straight wins.
Final Lightning-Avalanche Prediction & Pick
The Lightning score very well, but the Avalanche are on par with them. There are two major factors at play here. First, Alexandar Georgiev has been hit or miss this year. He has been over .900 in save percentage in three games in a row once this year. That was in the first four games of the year. Since then, he has been good in one game and struggled the next in general. Still, the Avalanche are great at limiting shots. The second factor is Andrei Vasilevskiy and how he will do in his second game back. Trusting Vasilevskiy is the move here in a tight game.
Final Lightning-Wild Prediction & Pick: Lightning ML (+122)
