Tampa Bay Lightning vs Detroit Red Wings Prediction, Odds and Picks for Friday, 10/17/25

The Tampa Bay Lightning and Detroit Red Wings meet for a Friday night in an Atlantic Division battle. This kicks off the first of 4 matchups this season, and we are in for an intriguing game. The Red Wings are off to an excellent start of 3-1-0, which has them in 2nd place in the division. Tampa Bay, meanwhile, sits at 1-2-1 in the 7th place position. A Red Wings win could have them in 1st place in the division, and a strong gap away from the Lightning. It is extremely early, but an interesting storyline nonetheless. Here are our Lightning vs. Red Wings predictions.

A key reason to Tampa Bay’s little success has been its inability to keep the puck out of the net. In just 4 games, the Bolts have given up 16 goals. This is not an average I expect to continue, but playing a red-hot team in Detroit may not be helpful in this situation. I think the Red Wings should get numerous tellies against the Lightning. They are on home ice, they team has looked excellent, morale is high, and they are getting contributions from a large number of players — especially their key contributors (Dylan Larkin, Patrick Kane, Alex DeBrincat all with 5+ points). While Detroit’s defensive efforts have been great as well, I think Tampa Bay will join the scoring. The Lightning has always been known as an offensive threat, and the same can be said this year — as they average over 3 goals per game. The over has hit in 3/4 Tampa Bay games, and I expect it to hit yet again for these Lightning vs. Red Wings predictions.

Lightning vs. Red Wings prediction: Over 6.5 (+105) available at time of publishing. Playable at that total to (-115).

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