The Tampa Bay Lightning and Dallas Stars meet in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final at 8 p.m. ET Friday at Rogers Place in Edmonton. We analyze the Stars-Lightning Game 4 betting odds and lines, with NHL picks and best bets.
Best-of-seven series: Lightning lead series 2-1
Lightning vs. Stars: Projected starting goalies
Andrei Vasilevskiy vs. Anton Khudobin
Vasilevskiy hasn’t been tested much in the Final, but he passed when he was forced into action. He allowed two goals on 24 shots in the 5-2 victory in the pivotal Game 3. Vasilevskiy was staked to a 2-0 lead, and the Lightning ended up going wire-to-wire. He and his teammates are now two games away from hoisting Lord Stanley’s Cup, but there is still plenty of work to be done. In this Final so far, he is 2-1 with a 2.37 goals against average and .903 save percentage through three games. Vasilevskiy has yet to show his best in this series, and that’s scary for the Stars.
Khudobin finally had a poor outing in Game 3, and it came at the worst possible time for the Stars. It’s ride of die with Dobby now as G Ben Bishop remains unfit to play and G Jake Oettinger is the backup. The latter made an appearance Wednesday, stopping all three of the shots he faced in the third period, spelling Khudobin. The starter coughed up five goals on 29 shots, and all of the big guns scored for the Lightning, including C Steven Stamkos, who made his playoff debut, albeit briefly. Dallas certainly didn’t need that.
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Lightning vs. Stars: Odds, picks and betting tips
Odds courtesy of BetMGM; access them at USA TODAY Sports for a full list. Odds last updated Thursday at 1 p.m. ET.
Prediction
Lightning 4, Stars 2
Money line (ML)
The LIGHTNING (-176) really took the wind out of the sails of the Stars (+150) early in Game 3, and they might be able to deliver the death blow in Game 4. Yes, the series will still not be over, but a couple of quick goals, and it could spiral out of control again for Dallas.
New to sports betting? A winning $10 bet on the Lightning returns a profit of $5.68, while a $10 bet on the Stars would fetch a profit of $15.
Puck Line/Against the spread (ATS)
The LIGHTNING (-1.5, +165) are a good bet here. If they score the first goal in this one, this is almost a guaranteed bet as it’s hard to see the Stars (+1.5, -200) coming back from a deficit. Dallas didn’t play terribly in Game 3, but once Tampa Bay scored a power-play goal early in the second, it was on.
Over/Under (O/U)
OVER 5 (-139) is the play in this one as Tampa Bay broke through for five goals in Game 3 to hit the number itself. The total had pushed in the first two in this series. Look for another Over, as the Lightning offense has finally found itself in this series, and Khudobin looks to be shaken.
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