New York Islanders at Tampa Bay Lightning Game 2 Odds - Free Pick

New York Islanders at Tampa Bay Lightning Game 2 Odds - Free Pick

David Schwab
Date: May 30, 3:00 am
Location: Amalie Arena
TV: NBC

Betting Odds

Moneyline: New York +142 / Tampa Bay -157
Total: 5

<p>Saturday's Stanley Cup action gets underway with Game 2 of a best-of-seven matchup between the New York Islanders and the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The puck is set to drop at 3 p.m. (ET) at Amalie Arena and the game will be broadcast nationally on NBC.</p>
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<div class="heading">NY Islanders vs. Tampa Bay Game 2 Overview</div>
<p>The Islanders' strong run in these playoffs continued with this past Wednesday's 5-3 victory in Game 1 of this series as +137 road underdogs. They eliminated Florida in six games in the opening round as series underdogs with a 2-1 record on the road. The total went OVER 5 in this series' opener after staying UNDER in four of the six games against the Panthers. New York was 20-16-5 on the road in the regular season.
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<p>The five goals scored in Game 1 was a welcomed sight after the Islanders tallied a total of five goals in their last three games of that Florida series. Center John Tavares led the team in both goals (33) and total points (70) in the regular season and so far in the playoffs he has posted 11 points including six goals. One of the main reasons for New York's early success in the postseason has been the play of Thomas Greiss in goal. Through seven starts, he has a goals-against average of 1.94 and a .941 save percentage.
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<p>Tampa Bay faced Detroit in the first round of the playoffs as the second seed in the Atlantic Division and came away with a very efficient 4-1 series victory that included a perfect 3-0 record at home. Wednesday's loss was just the Lightning's' third in their last 11 home games and during the regular season they went 25-13-3 at Amalie Arena. The total went OVER the closing 5-goal line in Game 1 after going 1-2-2 against the Red Wings.
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<p>The Lightning were able to open a 1-0 lead in Game 1 on Ondrej Palat's goal just three minutes into the first period, but goalie Ben Bishop got tagged for four-straight goals from there to put things out of reach for Tampa Bay. Bishop was replaced by Andrei Vasilevskiy in the second period but the damage was done. A continuing concern for Saturday's contest as well as the rest of this series is the availability of team captain Steven Stamkos. He has been out of action the entire month of April and there is no time table for his return. In his place, Nikita Kucherov has been Tampa Bay's leading goal scorer in the playoffs with six.
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<div class="heading">New York Islanders at Tampa Bay Lightning Betting Trends</div>
<p>The Islanders are 6-1 in their last seven road games and they are 8-2 in their last 10 games against a team with a winning record. The total has stayed UNDER in five of their last seven games on two day's rest.
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<p>The Lightning are 12-3 in their last 15 conference semifinal games and they have won seven of their last 10 Saturday games. The total has stayed UNDER in 11 of their last 13 home games against a team with a winning record on the road.
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<p>Head-to-head in this matchup, the home team is 6-2 in the last eight meetings and the total has gone OVER in three of the last four meetings in Tampa Bay.
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New York Islanders at Tampa Bay Lightning Prediction

I like Tampa Bay's chances to even things up with a win at home this time around, but I really like the UNDER as my "best bet" pick in this matchup. Greiss is playing light's out for New York and I expect a much better effort from Bishop for Tampa Bay.

Free Pick: Take the UNDER 5
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