Columbus Blue Jackets at Tampa Bay Lightning NHL Picks & Predictions 11/4/2017

Saturday, November 4, 2017

Amalie Arena

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Columbus Blue Jackets travel to Amalie Arena to play the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday, November 4, 2017. The opening line for this game has the Blue Jackets at +122 and the Lightning at -135.

Columbus has a record of 9-4-0 this season and on the road they have a record of 4-2-0. They are 2nd in the Metropolitan Division. They've scored 44 goals and given up 33 goals for a point differential of +11. For the season they have an ATS record of 9-4-0 and an over/under record of 7-6-0. Tampa Bay is 10-2-2 including 6-1-1 at home this season. They are 1st in the Atlantic Division. They've scored 54 goals and surrendered 38 for a goal differential of +16. Their record against the spread is 10-4-0 while their over/under record is 8-6-0.

Valuable Columbus Blue Jackets Betting Trends

The Columbus Blue Jackets are 9-4-0 straight up this year

The Columbus Blue Jackets are 7-6-0 against the over/under this season

Important Tampa Bay Lightning Betting Trends

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 10-4-0 straight up this year

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 8-6-0 against the over/under this season

Key Columbus Blue Jackets Injuries

11/03/17 RW Cam Atkinson Lower Body is "?" Saturday vs. Tampa Bay
10/23/17 LW Lukas Sedlak Ankle IR (10/23)
10/15/17 D Gabriel Carlsson Upper Body IR (10/15)

Key Tampa Bay Lightning Injuries

10/26/17 C Cedric Paquette Upper Body is out indefinitely

Player Spotlight

Seth Jones has accumulated 9 total points this season for the Blue Jackets. He has 2 goals this year with 33 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 6%. He has a total of 7 assists on the season and averages 23.6 minutes played per game. Nick Foligno averages 19.8 minutes of ice time per game this year. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 10% by scoring 3 goals on 30 shots. He has 5 assists, giving him a total of 8 points on the season. Sergei Bobrovsky has 8 wins and 2 losses this season in net for the Blue Jackets. He has 307 shots against him and he's given up 21 goals. He's made 286 saves for a save percentage of 93%.

Player Spotlight

Nikita Kucherov has scored 21 total points this year for the Lightning. He has 13 goals this season with 54 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 24%. He has a total of 8 assists on the season and averages 20.1 minutes played per game. Brayden Point averages 19.3 minutes of ice time per game. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 22% by scoring 6 goals on 27 shots. He has 9 assists, giving him a total of 15 points on the season. Andrei Vasilevskiy has 10 wins and 1 loss this year in goal for the Lightning. He has 403 shots against him and he's surrendered 29 goals. He's made 374 saves for a save percentage of 93%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Blue Jackets have 18 total points this season, which ranks them 4th in the NHL. They are 6th in the league in goals scored with 44 while they've given up 33 goals, ranking them 24th overall. They have had 39 power play opportunities and have scored 5 goals on those chances for a percentage of 13%. That is 30th in the NHL. The Blue Jackets have allowed 33 power play opportunities and have given up 5 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 85%, putting them 7th in the league when short-handed. They average 37 shots per game and as a team shoot 9.22% for the season. They allow 31 shots to their opposition per contest and have a team save percentage of 92%. That puts them 5th in the league in stopping the puck.

Useful Team Statistics

The Lightning are 1st in the NHL with a total of 22 points this year. They have 16 power play goals on 56 opportunities for a percentage of 29%. That ranks them 3rd in the league as a power play unit. They've allowed 53 power play opportunities and have given up 10 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 81%. That is 16th in the NHL. As a team, the Lightning are 1st in the league with 54 goals scored while they've given up 38 goals, which is 14th overall. They average 31 shots per contest and have a team shooting percentage of 12.36%. As a team they give up 33 shots per game and have a save percentage of 92%. That is 6th in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Columbus has a Corsi percentage of 53% as they've tried 811 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 718 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. That ranks them 4th in Corsi percentage. They are 4th in the NHL in Fenwick percentage with 53.6% as they have 628 shots while they've given up 544 attempts on defense. The Blue Jackets start possessions in the offensive zone 52.6% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 47.4% for the year. That puts them 9th and 22nd in the league in zone percentages respectively. They have 368 face-off wins as opposed to 449 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 45%. That is 30th overall in the NHL. On defense Columbus has 257 hits and they've blocked 174 attempts from opposing offenses, which is 20th in the league.

Advanced Statistics

The Lightning are 7th in the league in starting possessions in the offensive zone, doing so 53.9% of the time. Their defensive zone percentage is at 46.1% for the season, which is 26th in the NHL. They have 437 face-off wins compared to 455 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 49%. That is 22nd in the league. On defense Tampa Bay has 269 hits and they have blocked 185 shots from the opposition, which is 14th in the league. Tampa Bay is 12th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 50.7% as they've attempted 832 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 808 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage of 50.6% ranks 13th as they have 639 attempts while they have given up 623 shots on the defensive end.

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

Guy's Pick: Take Tampa Bay -135

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