Pittsburgh vs Tampa Bay Prediction: the Penguins to Claim Their Second Victory

Prediction for the NHL Pittsburgh Penguins vs Tampa Bay Ligthning match, which will take place on October 16. Who will turn out to be stronger? Check the team conditions! Several betting options are available.

Pittsburgh continues to rely on the roster's core. Despite the fact that the Penguins' leaders are not getting any younger, the club's management still gave them solid contracts in the offseason, putting themselves in the most difficult situation. The Yellow and Blacks had few new recruits this summer and they are unlikely to be key ones. Nevertheless, the debut was quite good, as at home they defeated Arizona - 6:2. The hero of the meeting, as expected, was Sidney Crosby who scored a goal and two assisted points.

It's curious to see what Tampa Bay will show us this season. In the last three years, the Lightning made it to three Stanley Cup finals, which took a lot of energy and emotion out of them. Still, after two wins, they were determined to rush into the fight for a new trophy, but after last year's loss to Colorado there are questions about the motivation of the South. Of course, the skill and genius of Andrei Vasilevskiy will be enough to make the playoffs, but they could have problems in the cup battles. In the meantime, they started the regular season with a 1:3 loss to the Ranger,s then beat Columbus 5:2.

Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay have had a convincing win in their recent games, which suggests they are in good shape, with the Penguins looking more hungry for success than the Lightning. The Pennsylvanians only recently experienced what is now happening to the Southerners when they won two consecutive Stanley Cups. After fighting for the trophy in the decisive stages, it's hard to force themselves to tune in again in the regular season's opening games, something Mike Sullivan's charges will have to take advantage of.

The confrontation between Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay is historically rich in performance. They met each other in the playoffs in 2016, after which they played 15 games in the regular championships, in which they scored 102 pucks against each other (6.80 average per game), which is an excellent figure even by NHL standards. The day before, the Penguins scored six goals against Arizona, and the Lightning added five goals against Columbus, confirming the power of their offense.

Jason Zuckeris a forward, who plays for Pittsburgh for the fourth season, but the references to him are minimal. We all remember his time scoring 64 points in the regular season for Minnesota, so the Pennsylvanians had high expectations of him, but so far, he's more on the mend than playing hockey. Last season he played in only 46 games in which he scored 19 points (8 goals + 11 assists), a modest figure for such a skillful player. He looked much better in the first game of the current regular season with a goal and a power play.

• We need your feedback! If you enjoy our free betting tips and content, we invite you to write a review on Trustpilot. Find the icon in the footer of the site.