Tuesday night means hockey night across North America! This 10-game slate includes a couple of premier matchups starting at 7 p.m. EST when the Colorado Avalanche head southeast for a battle against the Tampa Bay Lightning. We get a rematch of the 2022 Stanley Cup Final in this one, setting up quite the showdown between contending rosters once more.
Read on for an Avalanche vs. Lightning prediction and pick on DraftKings Sportsbook for Tuesday night’s game.
Avalanche vs. Lightning prediction, preview
There’s no denying that the Avalanche are an absolute wagon. This group recently broke a 45-year-old record with the fewest losses through 40 games of any team over that span, and while they picked up their third L of the campaign in their last contest, they remain far ahead of the rest of the league with 69 points. Colorado dominates in all facets of five-on-five play with a league-best 4.00 GF/GP and just 2.17 GA/GP, logging a total goal differential of +72. The next-closest team? The Lightning at +32. This high-octane attack gets out on the breakaway and pressure the net at the NHL’s highest rate, and it’s not shocking to see the numbers at the individual level. Nathan MacKinnon’s on his way to another Hart Memorial Trophy with an astounding 74 points, Martin Necas has 53, and Cale Makar has 47. A pair of other 30-point scorers are primary contributors as Artturi Lehkonen sits at 34 and Brock Nelson has 33. Again, this team is a wagon, even with a struggling power play hitting at just 16.3%. The Avs make up for it with a league-best penalty kill at 85.6% though, and the goalie tandem are both arguably at Vezina-level production.
The Lightning started their own campaign quite slowly, struggling out of the gate but finally finding their footing in recent weeks. They’re 7-2-1 across their last 10 and recently took the lead in the Atlantic Division with 53 points, and as mentioned above, the +32 differential shows that things are truly turning around. Tampa Bay ranks second with 3.44 GF/GP and fourth in GA/GP at 2.66, so two-way dominance remains a strong suit as always. Nikita Kucherov paces the roster with 59 points on the season, followed by Jake Guentzel’s 43. Similarly to the Avs, there are a pair of 30-pointers here between Brandon Hagel’s 36 in 36 games as well as Darren Raddysh’s 34 in 35 contests, too. Brayden Point also has 26 himself, though that mark lags behind his typical PPG pace over the last three seasons. On special teams, the kill remains strong at 83.3%, fifth-best, though the power play doesn’t stand out at 19.5%. Still, Andrei Vasilevskiy continues to play well as the primary netminder and this team keeps showing signs of their former selves.
Avalanche vs. Lightning pick, best bet
DraftKings Sportsbook lists the Avalanche as -125 road favorites on the Moneyline while the Lightning come in at +140 odds at home. Betting splits show 75% of straight bets in Colorado’s favor with 63% of wagers leaning over on the total of 6.5 combined goals.
Could this be a potential preview of the 2026 Stanley Cup Final, four years after these teams last met in the postseason? With how dominant the Avs are and how wide-open the Eastern Conference appears, it’s well within the realm of possibility. The Bolts continue to weather injuries to defensemen Victor Hedman and Ryan McDonagh, but they’ve performed well even without the pair in recent weeks. The big question for Colorado is the status of captain Gabe Landeskog, who took a nasty fall and slid into the post last time out. He’s simply day-to-day along with Joel Kiviranta, but those are undoubtedly some important pieces to potentially miss.
Regardless, both sides have electric offenses and standout defenses. This should be a close game as indicated by the odds, even with the Avalanche steamrolling opponents night after night. Scott Wedgewood (2.17 GAA, .918 SV%) and Vasilevskiy (2.36 GAA, .912 SV%) are playing excellent hockey, though the latter has been slightly leaky over his last couple of outings. Sure, the offenses are great, but so are the defenses. At even odds, I like the under here as these netminders duel between the pipes with strong blue lines in front of each.
