Tampa Bay at Ottawa

Tampa Bay needs just a win and a loss by Detroit on Thursday to guarantee that it will host an opening-round playoff series. The Lightning could also overtake Montreal for the Atlantic lead. Tampa Bay has great balance, tops in the NHL in goals scored and #12 in goals allowed. They are in bounce-back mode after a 3-1 loss at Toronto. The Lightning is 15-5 against the Atlantic division, 8-3 versus the Eastern Conference. Tampa Bay also plays strong defense on the road, 4-1 UNDER the total away and 8-1 UNDER in the Lightning's last nine road games vs. a team with a winning home record. Ottawa is 1-3 the last three games with a defense that is in the middle of the pack and one of the worst power plays in the NHL (#25). Tampa Bay goalie Ben Bishop used to play for Ottawa and he is 2-0-1 with a 1.62 goals versus Ottawa this season. Ottawa is 4-1 UNDER the total in the fourth game of a 4-in-6 days situation and when these teams clash the road team is 4-1 in the last five meetings. Play Tampa Bay and the game UNDER the total.