The Pittsburgh Penguins earned back home ice advantage in a big time way on Wednesday night. They whipped the Tampa Bay Lightning in just about every facet of the game en route to a 4-2 victory. Now, they can seize total control of this series if they can win on enemy ice once again in Game 4.
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ODDS ANALYSIS
The Penguins have been favored in all three games in this series, and this will end up being the fourth in a row. They're very likely to be even bigger favorites than they were at -125 in Game 3.
Total bettors got incredibly unlucky on Wednesday night. After just one goal in the first two periods, there were five in the third to push that game over the total. The number to beat here in Game 4 will surely once again be a flat 5.
GOALIE REPORT
We don't know what in the heck John Cooper could've asked out of Andrei Vasilevskiy. Sure, he allowed four goals, but he also faced a stupid 48 shots, the second game in a row in which he had to see at least 40 shots. For 39+ minutes, Vasilevskiy played his heart out and stopped everything which came his way. However, after stopping his first 30 shots, he allowed goals in four of his last 18 shots, though it's tough to say that any of those goals were his fault.
Ben Bishop was on the ice at practice on Wednesday morning, but he wasn't available for the second straight game. Don't be surprised if he comes back to the fold in this one.
Matt Murray took a shot to the head in the third, but he continues to build his legend. He stopped 26-of-28 shots in Game 3, and he's now an amazing 9-2-1 in his 12 playoff starts in his rookie campaign.
LIVE BETTING
It'll be interesting to see what Cooper does with his lines here. You might think that the two goals the Lightning scored in the third period were useless in Game 2, but it was the first real sign of Nikita Kucherov in this series.
Cooper elected to put his old "Triplets" line back together again with Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Kucherov, and that was the line which produced the two goals. If those men get going again, that might be the only shot Tampa Bay has to produce some offense.
QUICK PICK
This series though, feels like it's on the verge of being over. Sure, the Lightning stole Game 1 in the 'Burgh, but these last two games have been all Pens. Sidney Crosby has found his goal-scoring touch all of a sudden, and Phil Kessel just had an absurd Game 2 in which he scored the goal which effectively put the game away in the third and setup the goal prior to that with just 10 seconds left in the second.
Regardless as to who is in net for the Lightning, we think they're about to be overrun by arguably the best team in hockey in what could be another avalanche of a game.
NHL Odds: Penguins 6, Lightning 3
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