by
Two of the favorites to win the 2025 Stanley Cup square off on Thursday when the Tampa Bay Lightning face the Vegas Golden Knights at the Amalie Arena. The Lightning are 2-0-0 this season, the Golden Knights are 3-1-0. In our latest NHL betting picks we look ahead to the match and tell you who to put your money on.
- What: NHL
- Who: Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Vegas Golden Knights
- Where: Amalie Arena, Tampa Bay, Florida
- When: Thursday, October 17th, 2024
- Time: 7 p.m ET
The big picture
Tampa Bay Lightning are hosting the Vegas Golden Knights in a non-conference matchup on Thursday night.
The Lightning are playing catch-up in the NHL. Thanks to Hurricane Milton this will be only their third fixture of the season. It will also be their second at their Amalie Arena home rink after they defeated the Canucks 4-1 on Tuesday night.
Made some noise at @AmalieArena 🔊#GoBolts | #VANvsTBL pic.twitter.com/7BvTTb9fob
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) October 16, 2024
The Golden Knights travel south off the back of their first defeat of the season. On Tuesday night Bruce Cassidy’s team went down 4-2 in Washington to the Capitals. The loss ended a three-match winning streak.
Lightning vs. Golden Knights Match Betting
The best NHL betting sites favor the Lightning to win this non-conference showdown.
On the money line, the Tampa Bay Lightning are -130. The Vegas Golden Knights are +110.
Onto the handicap spread, and the Golden Knights receive the 1.5-point start. To win with the spread, they are -240. Tampa Bay is +195 to win and cover.
On the total points line, the spread is 6. Over 6 is the favorite at -115, with under 6 at -105.
In the latest betting to win the 2025 Stanley Cup, the Golden Knights are +1300, and the Lightning are +1700.
More NHL betting options can be found on our Lightning vs. Golden Knights betting table. All our odds are taken from the best sites for NHL betting.
| Lightning vs. Golden Knights |  |  |  |
| Lightning | -130 | -130 | -130 |
| Golden Knights | +110 | +110 | +110 |
| Lightning (-1.5) | +195 | +195 | +195 |
| Golden Knights (+1.5) | -240 | -240 | -240 |
Smooth start to the season for the Lightning despite Hurricane Milton
In the previous season, Tampa Bay had an overall record of 45-29-8. At home, they were 26-12-5.
This season the Lightning is 2-0 in the Atlantic Division. One win came away at the Hurricanes (4-1). The second was at home to the Canucks (4-1).
Given all the upheaval the Lightning have already had to endure this season with the weather, head coach Jon Cooper must be delighted with how things have started.
Their most recent match was the win over the Canucks. It was emphatic. Nikita Kucherov opened the scoring for the Lightning. After his hat-trick against the Hurricanes, this was Kucherov’s fourth strike of the season.
The winger was joined on the scoresheet against Washington by Brayden Point, Anthony Cirelli, and Brandon Hagel. All three scored a goal and had an assist in the win.
In goal, Andrei Vasilevskiy made 26 saves for the Lightning in what turned out to be the almost perfect season opener at home.
Winning start to the season ends after the first road trip for the Golden Knights
Last season Vegas went 45-29-8 overall and was 20-19-6 on the road.
Things got off to a great start this season with the Knights winning their opening three. But after a first loss of the new campaign on Tuesday, the Golden Knights are now 3-1 in the Pacific Division.
The three wins have all come at the T-Mobile Arena. First, the Knights defeated the Avalanche 8-4. That was followed by a 4-3 victory over the Blues, and a 3-1 win over the Ducks.
The 4-2 defeat to the Washington Capitals came on the Golden Knight’s first road trip.
RECAP | On the 50th anniversary of the first home game in franchise history, the Capitals came together to author an impressive 4-2 team victory over the visiting Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday night at Capital One Arena.#CapsKnights | #ALLCAPS https://t.co/YdezV1u07v
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 16, 2024
The win was the Capitals first of the season after they went down 5-3 at home to the Devils in their only other outing so far this term.
The road-trip defeat coming so early in the season shouldn’t be much cause for concern for Bruce Cassidy. But it is not ideal ahead of a trickier-looking assignment in Florida.
Another defeat on the road on Thursday could see an unwelcome theme starting to develop very early in the new season.
Cassidy will be keen to ensure such a run is halted before it has a chance to get started.
Lightning vs. Golden Knights Betting Picks and Predictions
For our opening NHL hockey picks, we are going for over 6 in the total goals market.
The Golden Knights’ four matches have seen a combined total of 31 goals scored. There have been five goals a game scored in the Lightning’s first two matches of the season.
Both teams are involved in matches with plenty of goals. A bet on under 6 looks too risky. So over 6 goals is our opening pick.
Onto the match winner and we have to favor the home franchise.
The Lightning is two from two. Yes, the Golden Knights are in good form. They are 3-1. But all three wins came at home.
Okay, it’s too soon to say that the Golden Knights have issues on the road after one match. The defeat in Washington might just be down to a bad day that could have happened anywhere.
But with the Lightning starting the season in good form, and Jon Cooper’s side also having home advantage, we make the Tampa Bay Lightning our betting pick to win the match.
Please check out our recommended partner sites below. These are the Best Offshore Sportsbooks for US Customers for NHL betting:
Sports Betting Sites 