Montreal vs Tampa Bay Prediction: the Lightning Has Improved

Prediction for the NHL Montreal vs Tampa Bay match, which will take place on December 18th. Who will turn out to be stronger? Check the team conditions! Several betting options are available.

Montreal was a hopeless underdog in the NHL last season, but they look much better this season. Nevertheless, their final stretch could have been better. In seven previous meetings, the wards of Martin St-Louis allowed five losses, beating only Seattle and Calgary - 4-2 and 2-1. The Red and Blues are 13th in the Eastern Conference standings but only five points away from the playoffs.

Tampa Bay has participated in the last three consecutive Stanley Cup finals. It was clear that the Lightning could not avoid the decline after such a heavy load, so now they did not look the best. Nevertheless, gradually the Blue and Whites woke up the hunger to win, and the results went up. In the last 15 meetings, John Cooper's wards suffered only three losses. Their current winning streak is now four games (19-6). Such a decisive spurt let Tampa Bay climb to the sixth line in the Eastern Conference standings.

Montreal and Tampa Bay approach their encounter in entirely different forms. The Canadian team went well in the regular season but has stalled recently. On the contrary, the Lightning had an unimpressive start, but now they found themselves and won their last four games by three pucks at least. We should expect a confident performance from John Cooper's wards in the upcoming match.

Tampa Bay is known for their formidable and merciless offense. The more surprising is that they didn't always show it this season, but recently they improved. In the four meetings, the Lightning has scored 19 goals (4.75 average per game).

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