The Tampa Bay Lightning (9-6-2) visit the St. Louis Blues (12-4-5) Tuesday at Enterprise Center with the puck scheduled to drop shortly after 8 p.m. ET. We analyze the Lightning-Blues odds and lines, while providing NHL betting tips and picks around this matchup.
Lightning at Blues: Projected starting goalies
Andrei Vasilevskiy vs. Jordan Binnington
Vasilevskiy is 7-5-0 through 12 starts with a .901 save percentage and a 3.02 goals against average. He dropped his last start while giving up three goals on 26 shots against after picking up consecutive wins.
Binnington is 9-3-4 through 16 starts. He has a .919 SV% and a 2.40 goals against average. He allowed three goals on 24 shots on goal in a loss to the Anaheim Ducks his last time out.
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Lightning at Blues: Odds, picks and betting tips
Odds courtesy of BetMGM; access them at USA TODAY Sports for a full set of today’s betting odds. Odds last updated at 1:40 p.m. ET.
Prediction
Lightning 3, Blues 1
Moneyline (ML)
The Blues (+105) are underdogs at home as they’re still without star RW Vladimir Tarasenko (shoulder). The reigning Stanley Cup champs are in first place in the Central Division and are 5-2-3 on home ice. They’ve dropped three straight games, but only the last (a 4-1 home loss to the Ducks) was in regulation. They had previously won seven straight.
The LIGHTNING (-125) are 5-4-1 on the road. They’re coming off of a three-game homestand and lost 4-3 to the Winnipeg Jets Saturday after winning each of the first three games. Tampa Bay has scored 64 goals and allowed 59 through 17 games, while St. Louis has scored 62 against 61 allowed. Take the visitors.
New to sports betting? A $10 bet on the Lightning to win outright returns a profit of $8.
Puck Line/Against the Spread (ATS)
Get better value with the LIGHTNING with +200 odds to cover -1.5 and win by two or more goals. The same $10 bet fetches a profit of $20.
Tampa Bay is 6-11 overall against the spread and 3-7 on the road, but the Blues are just 2-8 ATS at home despite being 8-13 overall. Two of the Lightning’s last three wins were each by margins of at least two goals.
Over/Under (O/U)
Take the UNDER 6.5 (-139) in a battle of two top goaltenders. Vasilevskiy hasn’t rounded into proper form of yet and is well off of last year’s Vezina Trophy-winning pace, but a test against Binnington and the champs will be further motivation.
Esten’s NHL betting record: 56-56
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