{"id":465946,"date":"2025-04-03T13:09:42","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T17:09:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=465946"},"modified":"2025-04-03T13:09:42","modified_gmt":"2025-04-03T17:09:42","slug":"nhl-predictions-tampa-bay-lightning-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/04\/03\/nhl-predictions-tampa-bay-lightning-2\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Predictions April 3rd: Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Ottawa Senators"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome back to NHL Predictions, where we break down matchups, analyze stats, and pretend we have the foresight of a veteran goalie in a shootout. Tonight, it\u2019s the Tampa Bay Lightning<\/a> vs. Ottawa Senators<\/a>, which means two teams fighting for playoff seeding. Will the Lightning roll through the Canadian capital like a Florida hurricane, or will the Sens rise up and play spoiler like they were born to do? Let\u2019s get into it.<\/p>\n

NHL Predictions<\/h2>\n

Tampa Bay Lightning vs Ottawa Senators<\/h3>\n

Head-to-Head: Lightning 2-1 Senators<\/h4>\n

Time<\/strong>: 7:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)<\/p>\n

TV<\/strong>: TSN5; Fan Duel Sports Sun; ESPN+<\/p>\n

Lightning: Keys to Victory<\/h3>\n

The Bolts are heating up like a Tampa beach in July. Nikita Kucherov<\/a> is leading the league in points and treating defences like speed bumps. \u00a0Jake Guentzel<\/a> has six goals and five assists over the last 10 games. He continues to carve up opposing blue lines with the efficiency of a sushi chef. Add in Victor Hedman<\/a> casually quarterbacking the power play, and you\u2019ve got a recipe for destruction.<\/p>\n

NHL Predictions thinks if Tampa can establish their transition game early and get their feet moving, Ottawa\u2019s defensive structure (or lack thereof) could collapse faster than a paper umbrella in a Hawaiian drink. Tampa doesn\u2019t need 40 shots to beat you\u2014just a few power plays and some open ice. And then there\u2019s Andrei Vasilevskiy<\/a>, a.k.a. The Big Cat. He hasn\u2019t been vintage Vasi all season, but he\u2019s still better than most goalies on their best day. Ottawa loves to fire shots from the perimeter\u2014Vasi eats those for breakfast.<\/p>\n

Ottawa Senators: Keys to Victory<\/h3>\n

The Sens are hanging on to the first wild-card spot, but they\u2019re only five points ahead of the next four teams fighting to get either of the two seeds. Brady Tkachuk<\/a> (29 Goals\/ 26 assists) is the heartbeat of this team. He\u2019s big, physical, and fully capable of dragging his team into a fight they didn\u2019t even want to be in, like a Rocky 37 movie. Though he’s listed day-to-day, if he\u2019s throwing hits, causing mayhem in front of the net, and jawing at Point or Kucherov, you know Ottawa’s trying to set the tone.<\/p>\n

Tim St\u00fctzle<\/a> has the kind of wheels that could give Tampa\u2019s defence headaches. He\u00a0has 21 goals and 50 assists for the Senators. If he gets loose in transition or draws penalties with his speed, Ottawa could sneak in a few goals.<\/p>\n

But let\u2019s be honest: the key is in net. \u00a0Anton Forsberg<\/a> has given up seven goals in his last five games. So, the Sens will need him to channel his best inner brick wall. Tampa creates high-danger chances like it\u2019s a hobby, so Ottawa\u2019s goalie better be ready for 30+ shots\u2014and not the easy ones.<\/p>\n

Prediction<\/h3>\n

Tampa has too much firepower. They\u2019re deeper, more experienced, and better structured in all three zones.<\/p>\n

Prediction<\/strong>: Lightning 5, Senators 3<\/strong>
\n(Expect some late-game fireworks and at least one moment where Brady Tkachuk<\/a> tries to fight a guy on line buying peanuts.)<\/p>\n

Top Prop Bets<\/h3>\n
    \n
  • Nikita Kucherov Goals over 0.5 (+150)
    \nKucherov scoring is about as reliable as Canadian winters being cold. Bet on it if you like money.<\/li>\n
  • Brady Tkachuk Over 3.5 Hits (+105)
    \nBecause someone\u2019s gotta stir the pot, and Brady has the recipe.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Final Thoughts<\/h3>\n

    Tampa will look to stay hot heading into the playoff race, and Ottawa? Well, they\u2019ll look to make it weird, physical, and just chaotic enough to pull an upset and stay in playoff position.<\/p>\n

    If the Lightning can stay disciplined and avoid the dreaded \u201cafternoon nap game energy,\u201d they should come out on top. But if the Sens muck it up and Tkachuk starts throwing bodies like he’s at WrestleMania, buckle up.<\/p>\n

    Main photo by: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n

    Please play responsibly. Check your local rules and age restrictions. Some jurisdictions require ages 21+. Have a gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Welcome back to NHL Predictions, where we break down matchups, analyze stats, and pretend we have the foresight of a veteran goalie in a shootout. Tonight, it\u2019s the Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Ottawa Senators, which means two teams fighting for playoff seeding. Will the Lightning roll through the Canadian capital like a Florida hurricane, or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5453,"featured_media":465975,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4524,4547,4548,8,9],"tags":[2133,583,6109,6391],"class_list":["post-465946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nhl-predictions","category-hockey","category-nhl","category-senators","category-lightning","tag-brady-tkachuk","tag-nikita-kucherov","tag-ottawa-senators-predictions","tag-tampa-bay-lightning-predictions"],"modified_by":"Dan Mount, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5453"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=465946"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465946\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":465977,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465946\/revisions\/465977"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/465975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=465946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=465946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=465946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}