Tampa Bay Lightning vs Carolina Hurricanes Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 02/26/26

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.

Hurricanes ML (-150) at time of publishing. Playable to -160.