Arizona Coyotes vs Tampa Bay Lightning - Odds and Predictions

Where: Amelie Arena – Tampa, FL.

When: Thursday, January 9, 7 PM EST

How (TV/Radio): Fox Sports Arizona, SunS, FAz+ | WFAN

Arizona Coyotes (Away)

Head Coach: Rick Tocchet{All-Time 146-161-50 ARI, TBL}

The Arizona Coyotes continue to enjoy their best season to date. Currently sitting with a season record of 25-16-4, the ‘Yotes have gone 6-4-0 in their last ten and have won their last four games straight They sit first in the Pacific division.

Offense

It’s no secret that the key to Arizona’s success this season has come from the back end – starting with fantastic goaltending and solid defense. Their offense has basically been doing just enough to get them ahead.

Arizona ranks 19th in the league when it comes to goals scored. They are 12th when it comes to shots on goal and 22nd in the league when it comes to shooting percentage (they have a 9.1 percent).

Their power play is respectable and they usually need that man advantage in order to win games. The Coyotes currently have the 12th-best power play in the league with a 21.01 percent and 29 of their 128 goals this season have come on the power play.

Defense

Arizona’s power play is good, but their penalty kill is even better. At the time of writing, Arizona has the league’s fourth-best penalty-killing unit. They currently have an 83.33 percent rate and have allowed only 21 power-play goals against.

Arizona has allowed the fourth-fewest goals against this season and the team has a combined save percentage of .923 – the second-highest in the NHL. These stats are astonishing considering that the Coyotes have allowed the third-most shots on goal in the league this season.

Unfortunately, both starting goalie Darcy Kuemper (who has been unbelievable this season) and backup Antti Raanta are out with injury, leaving newcomer Adin Hill to fill the space between the pipes for Arizona.

Goaltending

Goaltender Adin Hill is expected to make his second start of the season after winning his debut. He is 1-0-0. The statistics from his first game include a 2.03 goals-against average and a .944 save percentage.

Head Coach: Jon Cooper{All-Time 330-172-48 TBL}

Tampa is riding quite the winning streak of their own. The Bolts are 8-1-1 in their last ten and have won their last eight games straight. After struggling at the start of the season, Tampa Bay now sits second in the Atlantic Division behind only the Boston Bruins.

Offense

After an abysmal start to the season, the Tampa Bay Lightning have moved up to second in the Atlantic division and have scored the fourth-most goals in the NHL; the sixth-most at even strength.

At the time of writing, the Tampa Bay Lightning have the league’s best power play, sitting at a 29.20 percent. The team leads the league with 40 power-play goals.

the Tampa Bay Lightning also boast the league-best shooting percentage. After a slow start to the season, the Bolts now have an 11.3 shooting percentage. Forward Nikita Kucherov has also entered the top-15 in the league with 15 goals and 47 points.

Defense

Tampa Bay’s goaltending has been spectacular. Thus far, the team has allowed the ninth-fewest goals against and the tenth-fewest shots against. Combined, the team has a save percentage of .904 – the 13th-best in the league.

The Bolts also have the eighth-best penalty kill in the league at 82.35 percent. They have allowed the tenth-fewest power-play goals against.

One big factor is that Tampa Bay has allowed seven shorthanded goals against – the second-most in the NHL this season.

Goaltending

Last year’s Vezina winner Andrei Vasilevskiy is expected to start for Tampa Bay Thursday night. Vasilevskiy holds a season record of 20-9-2. His GAA sits at 2.74 and he has a .911 save percentage.

These two teams last faced off last year on March 18. The Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Arizona Coyotes by a final score of 4-1.

Although these two teams are in different conferences, the need to win is there for both teams. Both teams sit in highly competitive divisions and both have shown signs of struggle this season. Tampa is only starting to come around and need every two points they can get. Arizona is now without a top goalie and every win until Darcy Kuemper’s return is huge and very, very necessary to make the playoffs.

Questions to Answer

How will Coyotes’ netminder Adin Hill fare against the explosive offense of the Tampa Bay Lightning in just his second game of the season?

Can Arizona take advantage of Tampa’s habit of taking penalties in order to score that ever-so-important power-play goal?

Will the Bolts be able to overpower the Coyotes and take it to their weakened blue line as Arizona still has star defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson on the shelf?

Arizona Coyotes Injury Report

D Niklas Hjalmarsson – DL (lower-leg)

F Marian Hossa – IR/NR (illness)

G Darcy Kuemper – DL (lower-body)

G Antti Raanta – OUT (lower-body)

Tampa Bay Lightning Injury Report

D Ryan McDonagh – OUT (upper-body)

The latest odds for Coyotes vs Lightning are provided by Unibet NJ, DraftKings Sportsbook, and 888Sport NJ.

Money Line