NHL Tuesday best bets: Lightning to steal win vs. Rangers

With four teams slated to take the ice tonight, let's give both games some love and focus on a play from each that stands out.

Lightning (+100) @ Rangers (-120)

Playoffs included, the Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Rangers met nine times last season. The Lightning won the expected goal battle at five-on-five and had the better chances in eight of those affairs.

Igor Shesterkin is the great equalizer, of course, but that's not a great recipe for success against a team as good as the Lightning.

Tampa Bay simply has too much firepower on its roster. Surrendering a clear edge in chances will often be too much to overcome. Only the Minnesota Wild and Washington Capitals have scored on a higher percentage of their five-on-five shots in the past three seasons.

That's saying something considering superstar winger Nikita Kucherov missed one of those years entirely.

While the Rangers flipped the script and were generally a much more potent five-on-five side down the stretch and in the playoffs, they lost a lot of the added pieces (including Andrew Copp, Frank Vatrano, and Tyler Motte) that helped them get to the level they needed.

The Rangers do have some talented kids capable of taking on bigger roles, but they're not necessarily play-drivers, which is important to note.

We also know Andrei Vasilevskiy is one of the best goaltenders in the NHL, and the Lightning are a strong defensive team.

I think the Lightning are going to control the puck for a lot of this game, and they have the high-end talent to take advantage.

Bet: Lightning (+100)

Jack Eichel over 3.5 shots (+100)

Eichel was a little slow out of the gate after returning from injury last season, but he quickly got up to speed and never looked back. He was an absolute shooting machine for the Vegas Golden Knights.

The star center registered at least four shots on goal in 23 of his final 30 games, which is a whopping 77% success rate.

Games between the Golden Knights and Los Angeles Kings were surprisingly high-scoring events a season ago. All four meetings featured at least six goals, with the two sides combining for 30 tallies - an average of 7.5 per contest.

Vegas' goaltending could be shaky, and the Kings have more firepower this season, so this game could feature more offense than you'd expect on the surface.

That should only serve Eichel well in his quest for shots.

Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.