Pittsburgh vs Tampa Bay Prediction 12 January 2025

🔊 Can the "Penguins" make it into the Eastern Conference playoff eight? Pittsburgh still has a decent chance of making it to the Stanley Cup playoffs, but lately, they seem to be doing everything possible to deprive themselves of this opportunity. Tampa, on the other hand, remains in the playoff zone but can't seem to find a stable winning path.

📊 Head-to-Head

In the current regular season, the opponents have already met once. In the third decade of November, the "Lightning" barely managed to win in Pennsylvania (3:2 OT). The hero of that match was Tampa's forward Brayden Point. The Canadian scored a double, including the winning puck in overtime. The player is still in great form and has scored points in four of the last five games.

🐧 Pittsburgh

Mike Sullivan's team at this stage of the regular season should ideally be picking up the pace and striving full throttle for a spot in the Eastern Conference playoff eight. However, in reality, it's quite the opposite. In their last five games, the "Penguins" suffered four losses, managing to beat only Edmonton (5:3) thanks to an impressive performance by their leader and captain Sidney Crosby. The Canadian scored three points and tipped the scales in favor of his team. However, in other cases, points were extremely hard to come by for the home team. The club is still in the race for a spot in the Eastern playoff eight, but their results do not inspire optimism.

⚡ Tampa

The "Lightning" can't seem to find stability and secure their spot in the Eastern playoff zone. In their last five games, John Cooper's team managed to beat only Carolina (3:2) and Boston (4:1). In all other cases, they failed to succeed. The team is sixth in the standings, but the competition is so tight that a few setbacks in a row could seriously worsen their situation. If Tampa wants to try their luck in the Stanley Cup playoffs once again, they need to step up now.

📌 Projected Lineups

Pittsburgh: Nedeljkovic - Letang, Pettersson - Rust, Crosby, Rakell

Tampa: Vasilevskiy - Hedman, Raddysh - Guentzel, Point, Kucherov

🥅 Goalies

Pittsburgh's goalie Alex Nedeljkovic long contended for a starting role but gradually began making mistakes and lost his chances. The main issue for the netminder is a lack of consistency. For instance, he managed to effectively handle Edmonton's star-studded offense (92.9%), but then completely failed against Ottawa (70.6%). Assessing the real level of this player remains very challenging.

Tampa's goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, in his last game against New Jersey, failed to maintain over 90% save percentage for the first time in a long while and understandably lost in overtime. However, it's unfair to blame the Russian for this failure as there are more questions about the outfield players' performance. Nevertheless, the goalie needs to return to his usual top-level form.

📝 Editorial Prediction

Based on the current standings and team form, it's fair to say that a slight advantage is on the "Lightning's" side. However, head-to-head clashes between these teams are always uncompromising and fiercely contested. The "Penguins" have been resilient and have not lost in regulation time in seven of their last eight meetings. In our opinion, this trend remains relevant now. The home team has recently been clinging to minimal chances for final success and might well repeat this feat. We recommend betting on - Pittsburgh will not lose.