Colorado Avalanche at Tampa Bay Lightning NHL Picks & Predictions 12/7/2017

Thursday, December 7, 2017

Amalie Arena

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Colorado Avalanche head to Amalie Arena to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday, December 7, 2017. The opening line for this contest has the Avalanche at +218 and the Lightning at -245.

Colorado has a record of 12-12-2 this year and away from home they have a record of 4-7-1. They are 7th in the Central Division. They have tallied 81 goals and surrendered 86 goals for a point differential of -5. For the year they have an ATS mark of 12-14-0 and an over/under record of 16-10-0. Tampa Bay has a record of 19-6-2 including 11-2-1 on home ice this year. They are 1st in the Atlantic Division. They've scored 101 goals and have given up 69 for a goal differential of +32. Their record against the spread is 19-8-0 while their over/under mark is 16-11-0.

Valuable Colorado Avalanche Betting Trends

The Colorado Avalanche are 12-14-0 straight up this year

The Colorado Avalanche are 16-10-0 against the over/under this season

Important Tampa Bay Lightning Betting Trends

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 19-8-0 straight up this year

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 16-11-0 against the over/under this season

Key Colorado Avalanche Injuries

12/05/17 LW Gabriel Landeskog Suspension Served is probable Thursday vs Tampa Bay
11/19/17 C Vladislav Kamenev Arm IR (11/16)
11/10/17 D Patrik Nemeth Lower Body IR (11/08)

Key Tampa Bay Lightning Injuries

12/05/17 D Braydon Coburn Lower Body is "?" Thursday vs Colorado
11/27/17 D Jake Dotchin Undisclosed IR (11/20)

Player Spotlight

Nathan MacKinnon has scored 31 total points this year for the Avalanche. He has 10 goals this season with 77 shots on net, giving him a shooting percentage of 13%. He has a total of 21 assists on the year and averages 19.5 minutes played per contest. Mikko Rantanen averages 18.8 minutes of ice time per game this season. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 15% by tallying 8 goals on 55 attempts. He has 14 assists, giving him a total of 22 points on the year. Semyon Varlamov has 8 wins and 6 losses this season in goal for the Avalanche. He has 507 shots against him and he's surrendered 48 goals. He's made 459 stops for a save percentage of 91%.

Player Spotlight

Brayden Point has 23 total points this season for the Lightning. He has 10 goals this year with 63 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 16%. He has a total of 13 assists on the year and averages 19.4 minutes played per contest. Nikita Kucherov averages 20.8 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 20% by scoring 19 goals on 93 attempts. He has 21 assists, giving him a total of 40 points on the year. Andrei Vasilevskiy has 18 wins and 4 losses this season in net for the Lightning. He has 754 shots against him and he's given up 51 goals. He's made 703 saves for a save percentage of 93%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Avalanche have 26 total points this year, which is 25th in the NHL. They've scored 81 goals while giving up 86 scores, which has them ranked 15th and 11th respectively. They have had 110 power play chances and scored 22 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 20%. That is 15th in the league. The Avalanche have given up 101 power play opportunities and surrendered 21 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 79%, ranking them 19th when short-handed. They average 30 shots per contest and as a team shoot 10.56% for the year. They allow 32 shot attempts to their opposition per game and have a team save percentage of 90%, which is 27th in the league.

Useful Team Statistics

The Lightning are 1st in the league with a total of 40 points this season. They have 29 power play goals on 101 chances for a percentage of 29%. That is 1st in the NHL. They've given up 88 power play opportunities and surrendered 16 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 82%, ranking 13th overall. As a team, the Lightning are 2nd with a total of 101 goals scored while they've given up 69 goals this season, ranking 29th in goals against. They average 32 shots per game and have a team shooting percentage of 11.57%. As a unit they give up 32 shots per contest and have a save percentage of 92%, putting them 3rd overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Colorado is 24th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 48.1%, as they've attempted 1,422 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 1,536 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage is 47.7% as they have 1,051 attempts while they have given up 1,154 shots on the defensive end. That ranks them 25th in the league. The Avalanche start possessions in the offensive zone 49.5% of the time, which is 19th in the league, while their defensive zone percentage is at 50.5% for the season. That is 9th overall in the NHL. They have 703 face-off wins compared to 911 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 43.6%. That ranks them 31st in the league. On defense Colorado has 474 hits and they have blocked 382 shots from the opposition, putting them 23rd overall.

Advanced Statistics

The Lightning start possessions in the offensive zone 54.5% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 45.5% for the year. That ranks them 4th and 28th respectively in the NHL. They have 805 face-off wins as opposed to 907 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 47%. That is 29th in the league. On defense Tampa Bay has 522 hits and they've blocked 364 attempts from opposing offenses, ranking them 26th in blocked shots. Tampa Bay is ranked 9th in Corsi percentage with 51.6% as they've tried 1,654 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 1,549 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. Their Fenwick percentage is 12th in the NHL at 51.4%, as they have 1,252 shots while they've given up 1,185 attempts on defense.

Who will win tonight's Avalanche/Lightning NHL game against the spread?

Guy's Pick: Take Colorado +218

Get $60 worth of FREE premium member picks. No Obligation. No Salesman. No Credit Card. Fast Sign up with Instant Access Click Here

Read more articles by Guy Bruhn