NHL: Tampa Bay Lightning at Pittsburgh Penguins - Source: Imagn

Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Pittsburgh Penguins: Game preview, predictions and odds | January 12, 2025

Modified Jan 12, 2025 16:36 GMT

The Pittsburgh Penguins will cap off a back-to-back set of home games on Sunday evening against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Pittsburgh (18-18-8) is coming off a 5-0 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Saturday, while Tampa Bay (22-15-3) also dropped their previous game 3-2 in overtime against the New Jersey Devils.

Lightning vs. Penguins: Head-to-head and key numbers

The Penguins have a 57-39-5-7 record against the Lightning.
The Penguins are 34-12-3-5 at home against Tampa Bay.
Tampa Bay beat Pittsburgh 3-2 in overtime on November 19. Today is the second of three matchups in their three-game in-season series.
Pittsburgh averages 3.30 goals per game against Tampa Bay.
The Bolts average 2.88 goals per game against the Pens.

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Tampa Bay Lightning: Preview

The Pittsburgh Penguins have lost five of their last six games, though three of those loses have come in overtime or a shootout.

The Penguins (44 points) are in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race currently two points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets (46 points) for the second wild-card spot. On the other hand, the Lightning occupy the third spot in the Atlantic division with 47 points.

Pittsburgh will hope to see superstar Evgeni Malkin return to the lineup. Malkin has missed the last three games with an upper-body injury and will likely be a game-time decision for Sunday. Philip Tomasino remains on the Pens' IR list with a lower-body injury. For Tampa Bay, there are no players on the IR list.

Penguins vs. Lightning: Odds and Predictions

Tampa Bay heads to Pittsburgh as a slight road favorite to win at the PPG Paints Arena on Sunday afternoon. Here are the official odds, as per ESPN BET.

Pittsburgh is +125 to win on the moneyline.
Tampa Bay is -145 to win on the moneyline.
The puckline is Tampa Bay -1.5, which is +160.
The over/under is 6.5 goals.
The over-goals is -130, while the under-goals is +110

Prediction:

Coming off an embarrassing loss at home on Saturday against Ottawa, the Pittsburgh Penguins are likely to have a major bounce-back effort. Their desperation will outmatch the Lightning in a close battle.

Score Prediction: Penguins 5 - Lightning 3