Anaheim goaltender John Gibson showed off the kind of form we’re more accustomed to seeing Tuesday in Florida, stopping 52 of 55 shots to give his squad a chance. Ultimately, Gibson suffered yet another loss and the Ducks now hold a shockingly poor 2-12-4 record over their last 18 games.
Anaheim will meet another formidable opponent Thursday when it visits what will likely be a frustrated Tampa Bay Lightning squad.
Tampa Bay was shut out Tuesday in Dallas and has continued to post relatively middling results over the last month. So, will the Lightning take advantage of a Ducks team in the midst of some very awful form?
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It’s easy to argue this is a great bounce-back spot for Tampa Bay. The Lightning didn’t play with quite the same level of urgency as the Stars and that’s really not surprising considering the spot. Yet, playing at home here against a lowly Anaheim team will carry far more of the play and the elite scorers will get more chances against one of the NHL’s softest defenses.
I see Tampa Bay scoring a high number of goals and winning comfortably, and at -130 odds, I see value backing the defending Stanley Cup champion to find its game.
The play: Tampa Bay -1.5 goals (-145).