Tampa Bay Lightning at Pittsburgh Penguins, NHL forecast
Win probability
Starts from the pregame forecast, then moves with every score and the time left. Above the line favors PIT; hover for each play.
Game center
From the ESPN box score.
Top performers
Lightning- JJ MoserGoals1
- Zemgus GirgensonsAssists1
- JJ MoserPoints1
Penguins- Evgeni MalkinGoals1
- Kris LetangAssists1
- Evgeni MalkinPoints1
Scoring summary
- SO0:00Nikita Kucherov Goal Wrist Shot2–1
- SO0:00Egor Chinakhov Goal Wrist Shot2–1
- SO0:00Gage Goncalves Goal Wrist Shot2–1
- P317:44Evgeni Malkin Goal (10) Wrist Shot, assists: Kris Letang (20)1–1
- P314:13J.J. Moser Goal (5) Backhand, assists: Yanni Gourde (11), Zemgus Girgensons (5)1–0
Turning points
The 2 plays that swung the win chance most, each judged at its own moment: the chance with the score just before it against just after.
- P314:13J.J. Moser Goal (5) Backhand, assists: Yanni Gourde (11), Zemgus Girgensons (5)TB 1 – 0 PIT · TB 52% → 89% +37TB 52% → 89%+37 pts
- P317:44Evgeni Malkin Goal (10) Wrist Shot, assists: Kris Letang (20)TB 1 – 1 PIT · PIT 3% → 49% +46PIT 3% → 49%+46 pts
The pick
Reconstructed from what was known before the game: the ratings at that point and the closing line.
Lightning 57%
Forecast Elo ratings alone
How often that comes true: NHL favorites the forecast gave 55–60% have won 56.4% of 1,035 graded games.
- Market
- TB 57%
- ML TB -148 / PIT +124
- Pre-line forecast
- TB 57%
- Elo + market-implied
- Elo ratings
- TB 56%
- Ratings vs. market
- −0.8 pts
- TB: Elo 56.4%, market 57.2%
- Fair odds
- TB -134
- PIT +134 · the forecast as odds, no margin
- Pregame projection
- TB 3.5 – 3.0 PIT
- Margin from the forecast, posted total 6.5
How the number is built
Elo inputs in rating points (higher favors that team; 25–28 Elo is about a point of spread in football and basketball), then how the pieces combine.
| Factor | TB | PIT | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Team rating | 1575 | 1483 | Elo entering the game; 1500 is league average |
| Home field | — | +35 | Worth 35 Elo in the NHL |
| Rest | −30 | — | TB on the second night of a back-to-back |
| Starting goalies | +13 | −5 | TB: Andrei Vasilevskiy: team allows 0.32 fewer goals than with its usual starter (≈48 weighted starts) · PIT: Arturs Silovs: team allows 0.11 more goals than with its usual starter (≈28 weighted starts) |
| Elo ratings | TB +45 Elo | TB 56.4% | |
| Market-implied ratings | TB 56.7% | Team strength as past closing lines priced it, same game context | |
| Pre-line forecast | TB 56.7% | 20% Elo, 80% market-implied (log-odds blend) | |
| Forecast | TB 57.2% | Follows the market (vig removed): in testing, adding the ratings made it less accurate | |
Tale of the tape
This season coming into the game, regular season, each number with its league rank (the longer the bar, the higher). Home and road: the host's record at home against the visitor's on the road. Overtime and shootout losses count as losses in these records. Opponent Elo: how strong the teams each has played are, 1st the toughest. Shot share is a team's share of the shots on goal in its games. PDO adds shooting and save percentages: far from 100 tends to even out.
| TB | Stat | PIT |
|---|---|---|
| 2nd of 323.6 | Goals scored | 3.214th of 32 |
| 2nd of 322.6 | Goals allowed | 3.114th of 32 |
| 2nd of 32+1.0 | Margin | +0.114th of 32 |
| 13th of 3250.8% | Shot share | 51.2%10th of 32 |
| 7th of 3290.6% | Save percentage | 89.6%17th of 32 |
| 1st of 3210–0 | Last 10 | 7–34th of 32 |
| 1st of 3216–7 | Road vs home | 9–1227th of 32 |
| 17th of 321500 | Opponent Elo | 149430th of 32 |
| 2nd of 321575 | Elo rating | 148321st of 32 |
Rating history
Each team's Elo over the last two seasons. Hover or drag to compare on any date.
Recent form
Last five results, and whether the forecast hit.
Against the line
How each team has done against the closing spread and total, coming into this game.
| This season |  TB |  PIT |
|---|---|---|
| Puck line | 22–22 | 26–18 |
| Last 10 | 8–2 | 5–5 |
| Favorite | 12–22 | 5–12 |
| Underdog | 10–0 | 21–6 |
| Overs–unders | 24–20 | 22–22 |
| Overs–unders, last 10 | 8–2 | 5–5 |
Against each game's closing line. Books set every line knowing these records: across 3,901 past games, the team with the better record against the spread so far that season covered 51.2%, short of the 52.4% a standard −110 bet needs, and over/under streaks held 48.0% of the time. They describe the past.
Head to head
TB 4–3 PIT in their last 7 meetings; the forecast called 5 of 7.