Tampa Bay Lightning-Florida Panthers Best Bets for Tuesday

Florida and Tampa Bay are set to meet for the second postseason in a row, with tonight’s Game 1 set to go down from FLA Live Arena. Below, you can look at the loan Eastern Conference game on tonight’s NHL slate and at some of our best bets on the FanDuel Sportsbook.Tampa Bay Lightning (+132) vs Florida Panthers (-160) Total: 7 (O+114/U-140)

The Lightning and Panthers both have two of the highest-scoring offenses in the NHL, in what should be a good series, much like we saw last year when these clubs collided.

Florida should be able to make use of the experience they gained, while Tampa Bay will continue on in search of a dynasty and their third straight Stanley Cup. When you look at these teams, there’s no shortage of offensive capability on either side, blessed with quick-strike goal-scoring, which is why we’re looking at a goal scored in the first 4:59 of the first period. If you think there will be one scored, grab the +154.

The teams split matchups during the regular season with two wins each, but only one of those victories was a one-score game, meaning we could be in for some lopsided contests in this series. The Panthers were the better team during the regular season and showed that by winning the President’s Trophy, but the Lightning have so much experience in these situations and could use the performance they got from Andrei Vasilevskiy in Game 7 vs Toronto to get hot and continue playing strong hockey into Game 1. You should like the value you’re getting at this number for the Lightning on the moneyline and it’s a good number to consider after we saw Florida lose their first game in Round 1.

The total for tonight is currently set at 7, with the over bringing in better value at +114. During their six-game series last postseason, three of those six matchups including Game 1 saw the total go over 7. There’s reason to believe we could be in for a high-scoring affair as the teams go through a feeling-out process early in this series. With Brayden Point listed as doubtful, there are going to be holes in the Lightning down the middle of the ice, which is why the over is the play in this spot.

Best Bets: Goal scored in first 4:59 (+154), Lightning moneyline (+132), Over 7 (+114)