Lightning take on the Panthers, seek 5th straight win

Posted December 30, 2021 6:00 am

By The Associated Press

Tampa Bay Lightning (21-6-4, first in the Atlantic) vs. Florida Panthers (19-7-4, second in the Atlantic)

Sunrise, Florida; Thursday, 7 p.m. EST

FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Panthers -137, Lightning +115; over/under is 6

BOTTOM LINE: Tampa Bay will attempt to extend its four-game win streak with a victory against Florida.

The Panthers are 14-4-3 in Eastern Conference games. Florida is third in the NHL averaging 3.6 goals per game, led by Jonathan Huberdeau with 10.

The Lightning are 8-3-1 against the rest of their division. Tampa Bay averages 9.8 penalty minutes per game, the third-most in the Eastern Conference. Patrick Maroon leads the team serving 42 total minutes.

In their last meeting on Nov. 13, Tampa Bay won 3-2.

TOP PERFORMERS: Huberdeau leads the Panthers with 10 goals and has 33 points. Sam Reinhart has 11 points over the last 10 games for Florida.

Steven Stamkos has 36 total points while scoring 14 goals and totaling 22 assists for the Lightning. Victor Hedman has four goals and 10 assists over the last 10 games for Tampa Bay.

LAST 10 GAMES: Panthers: 5-4-1, averaging 3.1 goals, 5.8 assists, 4.1 penalties and 11.4 penalty minutes while giving up 3.7 goals per game with an .872 save percentage.

Lightning: 9-1-0, averaging 3.6 goals, 5.7 assists, 3.1 penalties and 7.6 penalty minutes while allowing 2.3 goals per game with a .927 save percentage.

INJURIES: Panthers: Olli Juolevi: out (health protocols), Markus Nutivaara: out (undisclosed), Carter Verhaeghe: day to day (health protocols), Ryan Lomberg: out (health and safety protocols), Sam Bennett: day to day (health protocols), Brandon Montour: day to day (health protocols), Radko Gudas: day to day (health protocols).

Lightning: Mikhail Sergachev: out (health protocols), Brian Elliott: out (health protocols), Andrei Vasilevskiy: out (health protocols), Erik Cernak: day to day (lower body), Anthony Cirelli: out (health protocols), Pierre-Edouard Bellemare: out (health protocols).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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