The St. Louis Blues (15-15-3) travel to face off against the Tampa Bay Lightning (17-10-2) on Thursday, December 19th. This game will be played at Amalie Arena in Tampa and televised on ESPN+. The Blues are coming off a win in their previous game, while the Lightning are looking to get back on track from a loss to the Jets. Puck drop is set for 7:00 ET.

Blues vs Lightning

The St. Louis Blues Are Coming Off A Win

With a 4-2 win over the Maple Leafs, the Blues evened their record at 15-15-3. As underdogs on the puck line, St. Louis covered, and the total of 6 goals matched the pre-game line.

St. Louis fell behind early, but Colton Parayko’s goal at 16:31 in the second period tied it up. The Blues then added two more goals before the Maple Leafs scored again, with Pavel Buchnevich sealing the win with an empty-netter.

The Tampa Bay Lightning Look To Bounce Back From A Loss

Tampa Bay’s 7-4 loss to the Jets moved their record to 17-10-2. The Lightning were underdogs on the puck line, and the total of 11 goals easily surpassed the pre-game line of 6.5 goals.

Despite leading 2-0 early, the Lightning couldn’t hold off the Jets, who scored four unanswered goals, including two empty-netters. Four different players scored for Tampa Bay in the loss.

St. Louis Offense Breakdown

Colton Parayko led the way for the Blues with two goals, bringing his season total to three. He also added his fifth assist on Pavel Buchnevich’s empty-netter, which was Buchnevich’s fourth goal of the year. Jordan Kyrou, who scored his third goal of the season, found the net for the Blues’ second goal.

St. Louis took 24 shots on goal and scored three times in the second period after being held scoreless in the first. They had 14 giveaways and finished with a total of five assists.

Lightning Offense Breakdown

Brandon Hagel opened the scoring for the Lightning, netting his 7th goal of the season. Brayden Point followed with his 8th goal, which came on a power play. Mitchell Chaffee added his 4th goal, and Nikita Kucherov scored his 10th, unassisted.

The Lightning took 30 shots on goal and recorded 8 giveaways. They scored twice in the first period, once in the second, and once more in the third.

St. Louis Team Defense

Defensively, the Blues gave up the first goal 5:25 into the first period and another late in the third, but they held the Maple Leafs scoreless during their second-period surge. Jordan Binnington made 35 saves with a 94.6% save percentage, while the defense added 3 takeaways and 17 hits.

Tampa Bay Team Defense

After tying the game at 4-4 in the 3rd period, Tampa Bay’s defense gave up three straight goals, including two empty-netters, leading to a 7-4 loss to the Jets. Goalie Jonas Johansson made 27 saves with a save percentage of 84.4%.

Blues vs Lightning Trends

• In their last three road games, St. Louis has averaged 2 goals per game while allowing 3. The team’s record in this stretch was 1-2 while going 2-1.
• When looking at their past five home matchups, Tampa Bay has an puck line record of 3-2 while averaging 5 per game. The team went 3-2 overall in these games.
• In their last ten games as the betting underdog, the Lightning have a straight up record of 4-6 and an puck line mark of 5-5.
• Going back to their previous three games as the favorite, St. Louis has an puck line mark of 0-3 while going 1-2 straight up.

Blues vs Lightning Prediction

When thinking about a moneyline wager in this game, our evaluation indicates that the Lightning will take down the Blues. Nonetheless, given the current odds of -211, I’d recommend getting bet down on the puck line instead, as our predictions point to the Lightning winning by more than one goal.

For a puck line pick, we are going with the Lightning to win and cover. Look for the Lightning to win this one by multiple goals over the Blues.

When considering the over/under line, which is currently at 6 goals, we believe that this game will go over that threshold, and we recommend wagering on the over.

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All odds are courtesy of Action247 Sportsbook. Good luck!!

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* All odds are provided by Action247 Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.**All views expressed are my own. My picks are my own and are not a guarantee, bet at your own risk.Action247 does not warrant the accuracy of completeness of the information, text, graphics, links or other items contained within these post.