by Chuck Sommers
Wednesday, Dec 01, 2021
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Venue: Amalie Arena, Tampa, FL
Where to watch: Bally Sports Sun, Bally Sports Midwest
Opening Odds at USA Sportsbooks
DraftKings:
BetMGM: Lightning -143, Blues +120
Caesars: Lightning -141, Blues +120
Season record
Blues: 12-7-3 (2nd place, Central Division)
Lightning: 12-5-4 (3rd place, Atlantic Division)
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Blues - Lightning preview and analysis
Recent form
Blues: 4-5-1 in last 10; won 4-3 (SO) vs. Lightning on Wednesday
Lightning: 6-2-2 in last 10
After an impressive 3-goal comeback on Tuesday, the St. Louis Blues will look to complete the home-and-home sweep against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena on Thursday.
The Blues rallied from down 3-0 after an embarrassing first period to eventually even things up and win in a shootout at Enterprise Center earlier in the week.
Ryan O’Reilly and Logan Brown scored less than three minutes apart in the second period to cut it to 3-2, and then Ivan Barbashev tied it 1:11 in the third on the power play.
"Just a lot of leadership in that room, just a lot of hockey to play, and a lot of time to get it back," St. Louis forward Logan Brown said. "This is a great team, so I think we can score goals when we play that way. So, just no panic in our game and just keep battling and playing our game."
O’Reilly scored the only goal of the shootout in the sixth round. Brian Elliott stopped 30 shots for the Lightning, meaning Andrei Vasilevskiy will get the nod in this matchup. Tampa Bay has recorded points in seven of its last nine games; the Lightning had their three-game winning streak end Sunday against the Minnesota Wild.
"We went to overtime, we had our chances, but we didn't get it done," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "We were a tired group at the end there.”
Tampa is already down Nikita Kucherov for the foreseeable future, but will be without Brayden Point for the next 4-6 weeks.
St. Louis is also dealing with its own set of injuries, down David Perron and James Neal, but that has not deterred the Blues from remaining competitive in the Central Division.
Prediction
The Blues have won the last five meetings, but you have to think the Lightning will come back at home and get the win. Hard to envision Vasilevskiy will let up three straight goals like his backup did. Lightning win 4-2
Betting trends
The Blues are 0-4 straight up in their last four road games.
The Blues are 1-6 this season following a win.
The over is 12-3-3 in the Lightning’s last 18 games against the Central.
The under is 6-2 in Tampa Bay’s last eight home games.
Projected lines
Blues:
Brayden Schenn -- Ryan O'Reilly -- Jordan Kyrou
Pavel Buchnevich -- Robert Thomas -- Vladimir Tarasenko
Brandon Saad -- Oskar Sundqvist -- Ivan Barbashev
Dakota Joshua -- Logan Brown
Torey Krug -- Justin Faulk
Niko Mikkola -- Colton Parayko
Scott Perunovich -- Robert Bortuzzo
Marco Scandella
Jordan Binnington
Lightning:
Ondrej Palat -- Steven Stamkos -- Alex Barre-Boulet
Alex Killorn -- Anthony Cirelli -- Gabriel Fortier
Pat Maroon -- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare -- Corey Perry
Boris Katchouk -- Ross Colton -- Taylor Raddysh
Victor Hedman -- Jan Rutta
Ryan McDonagh -- Zach Bogosian
Mikhail Sergachev -- Erik Cernak
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Key injuries
Blues: David Perron (upper body), James Neal (undisclosed), Klim Kostin (upper body)
Lightning: Brayden Point (upper body), Nikita Kucherov (lower body)
Statistical leaders
Blues:
Points: Jordan Kyrou -- 23
Goals: Jordan Kyrou -- 9
Assists: Robert Thomas -- 18
TOI: Colton Parayko -- 24:19
Goalie: Jordan Binnington -- 8-5-3; 2.80 GAA, .912 SV%
Lightning:
Points: Steven Stamkos -- 24
Goals: Steven Stamkos -- 11
Assists: Victor Hedman -- 16
TOI: Victor Hedman -- 25:32
Goalie: Andrei Vasilevskiy -- 10-4-3; 2.15 GAA, .926 SV%
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Chuck Sommers
About the Author:
Chuck Sommers has camped outside of sportsbooks since he can remember, learning the tricks and nuances of the trade. He still has nightmares of betting $5,000 on the Raiders in the Tuck Rule game but has since turned that to 25 years of veteran handicapping greatness. You can find him mostly in the shadows at the Red Rock or Aliante casinos wondering if the over is cashing on any given Sunday.
