Adam Williams presents his prediction for the NHL match.
The Tampa Bay Lightning may have secured home-ice advantage over the Florida Panthers for the opening round of the playoffs, but they still need to hold on to it until the end of the regular season. The New York Islanders, though, won’t roll over — they’ve got their own fight to win.
New York Islanders
The Islanders remain in the race for the second wild-card spot in the East, though the gap is starting to widen — they’re three points adrift and on a three-game losing streak. The problem? Defence. They’ve conceded at least five goals in each of those defeats, and even three or four goals scored up front hasn’t been enough. One of those losses came just days ago against the Tampa Bay Lightning (3:5).
Tampa Bay Lightning
How do you stop this version of the Lightning, especially when Nikita Kucherov is in MVP-chasing form? The Russian winger has been on a mission to wrest the Hart Trophy away from Nathan MacKinnon, who pipped him to the award last season. Kucherov has racked up 13 points in his last five games, including at least three in each of his last three home appearances. He now sits on 109 points through 69 games — not even Ilya Sorokin could slow him down last week, saving just 82.6% of the shots he faced.
New York Islanders vs Tampa Bay Lightning Prediction
Expect goals — six or more. That’s been the trend for both teams: the Lightning have gone over 5.5 in five straight, the Islanders in eight. And the Lightning are simply the better side right now: six wins in their last eight, compared to just three for the Islanders.
