Eastern Conference Series Game 1: Red Wings vs Lightning

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are upon us and, as in any hockey game, you can expect a furious, fast-moving, bone-crunching affair in every game. Let’s take a look at Eastern Conference game 1 preview between the Detroit Red Wings and the Tampa Bay Lighting.

Detroit Red Wings vs Tampa Bay Lighting

• Time: Wednesday, April 13, 2016 7:00 PM ET
• Place: Amalie Arena
• Betting Line: Tampa Bay -148
• Total: 5

Bet on the Red Wings

With the Senators’ win over the Bruins, Detroit now finds itself for the 25th consecutive time in the postseason. They now head on to compete against their long time foe, the Tampa Bay Lightning, for the Eastern Conference series.

In the same scenario as last year’s series, the Lightning ended on top. This year Detroit will hope to turn the tide and it might be a different story altogether because of the absence of the Lightning’s Anton Stralman and Steven Stamkos.

The Red Wings will likely look to take advantage with Dylan Larkin up front, creating scoring opportunities to add to his 23 goals and 22 assists. Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg will complete the Red Wings’ charge.

Bet on the Lighting

Though somewhat hampered with the injury of key players, the Lightning might still have one over the Red Wings. Both Stamkos and Stralman are out, but Nikita Kucherov might step up in their absence. Kucherov has amassed 11 goals and 11 helpers through 28 playoff games and 66 points this season.

Apart from Kucherov, Alex Killorn, Victor Hedman, and Ondrej Palat are also able-bodied players enough to pose a threat to Detroit’s defense. In particular Hedman has been able to score four goals in the past six games, while Killorn and Palat have delivered 40 points this year.

On defense, Ben Bishop is a big obstacle to get past. Bishop has 9-4-0 record with a 1.71 GAA and .935 SV%.

Betting Trends

• Detroit is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games on the road
• The total has gone OVER in 4 of Detroit's last 6 games on the road
• Detroit is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games when playing Tampa Ba
• The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Tampa Bay's last 5 games when playing Detroit
• Tampa Bay is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Detroit
• The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Tampa Bay's last 7 games when playing at home against Detroit

Betting Pick and Prediction: Tampa Bay will take the first game 2-1.