Tampa Bay Lightning vs Washington Capitals: Odds, Puck Line, and Total
The Tampa Bay Lightning netted their first victory of the NHL regular season in Monday’s 4-3 win over the Boston Bruins at TD Garden. The Bolts will try to stay…
The Tampa Bay Lightning netted their first victory of the NHL regular season in Monday's 4-3 win over the Boston Bruins at TD Garden. The Bolts will try to stay plugged in against the host Washington Capitals inside Capital One Arena at 7 p.m. EST on Tuesday night.
Washington hosts Tampa Bay amidst a potent start for the Capitals. DC defeated the New York Rangers 1-0 to sweep a brief road trip following last week's season debut against Boston. The Caps were buoyed by a 25-save shutout from netminder Charlie Lindgren. It's scary that the Washington Capitals are prevailing in tough road games without Alex Ovechkin having scored his first goal of 2025-26.
As always, sportsbooks will slap hefty prop-betting prices on an Ovechkin slapper finding the twine. However, they're not ready to make DC the solid favorite for a game with tight money line odds.
Spread
- Lightning +1.5 (-242)
- Capitals -1.5 (+218)
Money line
- Lightning +102
- Capitals -108
Total
- Over 6 (-103)
- Under 6 (-108)
Note: The above data was collected on Oct. 14, 2025, and may have changed since writing.
Tampa Bay Lightning vs Washington Capitals Betting Trends
- Totals have gone over in seven of the last 10 Lightning-Capitals games.
- Tampa Bay has won three of its last five games at Capital One Arena.
- The 2025-26 Washington Capitals went 2-0 on their first road swing.
Tampa Bay Lightning vs Washington Capitals Injury Reports
Tampa Bay Lightning
- Center Zemgus Girgensons is on the injured reserve with an undisclosed injury.
- Left winger Nick Paul is on the injured reserve following upper body surgery.
Washington Capitals
- Left winger Pierre-Luc Dubois is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury.
- Defenseman Dylan McIlrath is on the injured reserve with a lower body injury.
Tampa Bay Lightning vs Washington Capitals Predictions and Picks
Tampa Bay's offense has been effective in stretches of all three games in the fresh season. Superstar sniper Nikita Kucherov scored twice in the Lightning's debut loss to Ottawa, while Denmark National Team forward Oliver Bjorkstrand is off to a flying start with a goal and two assists. Brayden Point's minus-5 mark is concerning, but the Lightning's leading skater boasts four points in three games. The quietly efficient transition-game weapon, Darren Raddysh, leads the blue line with another three points.
The forward corps is still having weird lapses to begin the schedule, making critics question a Bolts attack that has produced ample goals in limited offensive zone time. "Thursday, (Tampa Bay) went 18 minutes, 50 seconds between shots on goal at one point. And Saturday's horrible start was characterized by more inept offense," writes Eduardo A. Encina in a free-of-subscription article in the Tampa Bay Times. "The Lightning had just two shots on goal in the first period."
Are the Lightning trying to coast as if it's midseason already? More likely, the transition game isn't working deep into the lineup beyond the passing games of Raddysh and Victor Hedman. Watch for Washington's aggressive style to impact Tampa's gap control in a likely wide-open, over-total-goals winning outcome.
