Pittsburgh Penguins vs Tampa Bay Lightning: Game preview, predictions and odds

Pittsburgh Penguins vs Tampa Bay Lightning: Game preview, predictions and odds | March 25, 2025

Modified Mar 25, 2025 14:06 GMT

NHL: Columbus Blue Jackets at Pittsburgh Penguins - Source: Imagn — Pittsburgh Penguins vs Tampa Bay Lightning: Game preview, predictions and odds | March 25, 2025 (image credit: IMAGN)

The Pittsburgh Penguins are on the road to face the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET.

Both teams are coming off losses on Sunday as Pittsburgh (29-32-11) was defeated 4-3 in a shootout by Florida while Tampa Bay (40-25-5) lost 4-2 to Vegas.

Penguins vs Lightning: Head-to-head & key stats

Pittsburgh is 57-40-5-7 all-time against Tampa Bay
The Penguins are 11-18-6 on the road
Tampa Bay is allowing 2.7 goals per game
Pittsburgh is averaging 2.94 goals per game
The Lightning are 24-8-2 at home
The Penguins are allowing 3.54 goals per game
Tampa Bay is averaging 3.47 goals per game

Pittsburgh Penguins vs Tampa Bay Lightning: Preview

Pittsburgh has lost two of its last three games and won't be making the playoffs this season. The team is led by Sidney Crosby's 78 points, Rickard Rakell's 62 points, Bryan Rust's 54 points, Erik Karlsson's 50 points and Evgeni Malkin's 46 points.

The Penguins are expected to start Tristan Jarry who is 12-9-5 with a 3.12 GAA and a .894 SV%. In his career against Tampa Bay, he is 6-4-1 with a 2.54 GAA and a .920 SV%.

Meanwhile, Tampa Bay is on a two-game losing streak and will return home. The Lightning are set to start Andrei Vasilevskiy who is 33-19-3 with a 2.25 GAA and a .919 SV%. In his career against Pittsburgh, he is 11-7-1 with a 3.11 GAA and a .903 SV%.

They are led by Nikita Kucherov who has 98 points, Brandon Hagel with 77 points, Brayden Points with 68 points, Jake Guentzel with 67 points and Victor Hedman with 54 points.

Penguins vs Lightning: Odds & Prediction

Pittsburgh is a +225 underdog while Tampa Bay is a -278 favorite. The over/under is set at 6.5 goals.

The Lightning returns home and are in a great spot to get a win and keep up in the race for the division title.

Pittsburgh has struggled defensively and in net and will go up against one of the best offenses in the NHL. Vasilevskiy should continue his success and limit the Penguins offense to get the win.

Prediction: Lightning 4, Penguins 2.

Penguins vs Lightning: Betting Tips

Tip 1: Tampa Bay -1.5 (-105)

Tip 2: Under 6.5 goals (-130)

Tip 3: Brandon Hagel 3+ shots on goal (-125)

About the author

Cole is an NHL, NFL and College Sports reporter at Sportskeeda with over 7 years of experience writing for publications like CBC, USA Today, SMG, BJPENN, Sherdog and SB Nation.

An NHL fan his whole life, Cole played rep hockey in Canada from age 5 until 17 and grew up rooting for Martin St. Louis and the Tampa Bay Lightning. His all-time favorite players are Vincent Lecavalier and Steven Stamkos, while Jon Cooper is his favorite coach of all time.

Cole attended Sheridan College and received his journalism degree in 2019. After decades of watching and reporting, he considers his knowledge of sports as his primary strength. He ensures that the same story has been reported by at least two reputed reporters before creating it.

Cole enjoys playing golf and spending time with friends and family when not reporting breaking stories. His favorite sports moment is from the 2010 Olympics, when Sidney Crosby scored the golden goal in overtime to beat Team USA for the gold medal.

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Edited by Victor Ramon Galvez