Panthers vs Lightning Picks, Odds & How to Watch (Tuesday, Apr. 15)

• The Sunshine Cup resumes when the Florida Panthers (47-30-4) travel to face rival Tampa Bay (46-26-8) Tuesday night at Amalie Arena.

• Tampa Bay still has an outside shot at the Atlantic Division title with two games to play and is a 1.5-goal favorite.

• I see plenty to talk about and consider when making a bet on Tuesday night hockey. I have your pick and look at the best odds before you put down your wager.

Tampa Bay (46-26-8; 42-38 ATS) is playing for a division title while Florida (47-30-4; 35-45 ATS) would love to play spoiler Tuesday night.

The Lightning and star Nikita Kucherov need four points in their last two games and have to hope Toronto loses both games to win the Atlantic Division title. A win by Florida sets up a first-round playoff match-up between these two. Florida beat the Lightning 4-1 in the first round last year en route to the Stanley Cup.

I did a deep dive on these two teams last 10 meetings and have insights and picks and how to watch this one.

Panthers vs Lightning How To Watch

Puck Drop: 7:30 p.m. ET

Location: Amalie Arena, Tampa, Florida

TV Channel: ESPN

Streaming Service: Fubo, YouTubeTV, ESPN+

Panthers vs Lightning Odds

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With so much more to play for tonight than the Panthers, Tampa Bay is 1.5-goal favorites. The total is locked it at 5.5 everywhere I look. I found the best moneyline number on Florida is +162 at Caesars and -175 at BetMGM on Tampa Bay.

Florida has won seven of the last 10 meetings, including two this season, plus the 4-1 series win in the first round last year.

Here’s a breakdown of the last 10 games.

Panthers vs Lighting Pick

• Tampa Bay -1.5 (+134 at FanDuel)

• Over 5.5 (-115 at FanDuel)

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It’s hard not to believe that the Lightning won’t go over in this one easily. Florida, who is playing their last regular season game, will rest most of their key players and journeyman goalie Vitek Vanecek will probably start in net.

Vanecek is 2-3-1 with a 2.66 goals against average. He made 26 saves in a shootout win over Buffalo his last time out. In his career, he’s 1-4 against Tampa Bay all time. Not good.

Tampa Bay is four points behind Toronto with two games to play, but has the tiebreaker. They need to win tonight and beat the Red Wings in their season finale. Odds aren’t good. Toronto just needs a point and they play Buffalo and the Rangers, who are both long since out.

Lightning superstar forward Nikita Kucherov has already clinched the Art Ross Trophy for most points this season in the NHL with 119. Tampa Bay has the best offense in the NHL with 280 goals scored. Brandon Hagel has 90 points, including 35 goals. That would lead plenty of NHL teams, but not the Lightning.

Tampa goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy has a 2.20 goals against average, third among regular goalies this season.

Both teams are thinking Stanley Cup. Florida is defending champs. Tampa Bay is built for a big run. This may be the first meeting of many in the next couple of weeks. I see Tampa Bay looking to make a statement.