Andrew Wilsher

The Tampa Bay Lightning doubled up the Toronto Maple Leafs by a 4-2 count on Wednesday night at Benchmark International Arena, and then they hopped a charter flight for Raleigh/Durham to battle the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night at Lenovo Center. The Lightning arrived into RDU at 1:05 a.m. ET, so they likely didn’t get to their team hotel until at least 2 a.m., and likely not to sleep until well after that. It’s a quick turnaround after a tough divisional game, even with the long layoff for the Olympic break preceding these two games. Andrei Vasilevskiy was in the crease for the win over the Leafs, so Olympian Jonas Johansson is expected to the get nod.

For the Hurricanes, rookie Brandon Bussi, a Calder and Vezina Trophy possibility is expected to be in the crease. It’s a tough assignment for Bussi against a Tampa Bay team which is 20-1-1 in the past 22 games dating back to Dec. 20, and the hot streak started against the Hurricanes in Tampa. If Vasilevskiy was the starter, and not the backup, the red-hot Lightning would be the play. But, go with the Hurricanes because Bussi, who just continues to defy the odds and beat his detractors.

Lightning vs Hurricanes prediction: Hurricanes ML (-150) available at time of publishing. Playable to -160.

The Philadelphia Flyers were down in the nation’s capital to battle the Washington Capitals on Wednesday, and they were on the short end of a 3-1 loss against Team Canada backup goaltender Logan Thompson and the Caps. The struggles on offense for the Flyers carried over past the Olympic break. Philly has totaled just 14 goals in the past seven games, or 2.0 goals per game (GPG), while it has allowed just 2.5 GPG. It’s no surprise that the Under has cashed in four consecutive games. On the road, the Over is 9-2 in the past 11 games.

For the Rangers, while they’ve struggled at home this season, going 6-15-4 with seven shutout losses on home ice. The Rangers have been blanked nine times total, too. The Over is 9-3-1 across the past 13 games, as Jonathan Quick and Spencer Martin haven’t quite gotten their footing in the crease filling in for the injured Igor Shesterkin (lower body). The Rangers will also be without Adam Fox on defense due to an LBI, while Conor Sheary is out up front with an LBI, and Mika Zibanejad is under the weather. The Flyers are healthy, and they should add to the woes of the Rangers on home ice.

Flyers vs Rangers prediction: Flyers ML (+105) available at time of publishing. Playable to +100.

Both the Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings are looking to get back on track after suffering losses on Wednesday night. The Oilers fell to the Ducks by a score of 6-5, while the Kings lost to the Golden Knights 6-4. The Kings have struggled at home all season long, as they own a less-than-ideal 8-12-7 record on home ice at Crypto.com Arena. Things won’t get any easier going up against Connor McDavid and company in this one.

The Kings suffered some tough injury news over the Olympic break, as winger Kevin Fiala sustained a lower leg fracture early on in the Olympic tournament in Italy. He has already been ruled out for the remainder of this season, and is slated to miss a significant chunk of next season as well. His loss is a big one, as Fiala was second on the team with 40 points on 18 goals and 22 assists through 56 games. For a team that has struggled to find consistent offense all season long, not having Fiala on the ice puts Los Angeles in a tough spot. The Kings rank 29th in the NHL scoring 2.56 goals per game, and now their top line and top power play is down a major piece of the puzzle. It’s very likely that keeping up with Edmonton’s scoring attack is a challenge to tough to overcome in this one. Back the Oilers on the road.

Oilers vs Kings prediction: Oilers ML (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable to -115.