Florida Panthers at Tampa Bay Lightning NHL Picks & Predictions 10/6/2017

Friday, October 6, 2017

Amalie Arena

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Florida Panthers head to Amalie Arena to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday, October 6, 2017. The opening line for this contest has the Panthers at +135 and the Lightning at -165.

Florida had a record of 35-36-11 last year and away from home they had a record of 16-17-8. They were 6th in the Atlantic Division. They tallied 210 goals and surrendered 237 goals for a point differential of -27. For the year they had an ATS mark of 35-47-0 and an over/under record of 36-36-0. Tampa Bay finished with a record of 42-30-10 including 23-14-4 on home ice last year. They were 5th in the Atlantic Division. They scored 234 goals and gave up 227 for a goal differential of +7. Their record against the spread was 42-40-0 while their over/under mark was 38-38-0.

Valuable Florida Panthers Betting Trends

The Florida Panthers were 35-47-0 straight up last year

The Florida Panthers were 36-36-0 against the over/under last season

Important Tampa Bay Lightning Betting Trends

The Tampa Bay Lightning were 42-40-0 straight up last year

The Tampa Bay Lightning were 38-38-0 against the over/under last season

Key Florida Panthers Injuries

No key injuries to report

Key Tampa Bay Lightning Injuries

10/05/15 C Alex Killorn Undisclosed "?" Thursday vs. Philadelphia
10/05/15 C Tyler Johnson Undisclosed "?" Thursday vs. Philadelphia

Player Spotlight

Jonathan Huberdeau scored 24 total points last year for the Panthers. He had 8 goals last season with 77 shots on net giving him a shooting percentage of 10%. He had a total of 16 assists on the year and averaged 17.9 minutes played per contest. Aleksander Barkov averaged 19.4 minutes of ice time per game last season. In that time he had a shooting percentage of 15% by tallying 21 goals on 142 attempts. He had 31 assists giving him a total of 52 points on the year. Roberto Luongo had 17 wins and 15 losses last season in goal for the Panthers. He had 1,217 shots against him and he surrendered 104 goals. He made 1,113 stops for a save percentage of 92%.

Player Spotlight

Victor Hedman had 70 total points last season for the Lightning. He had 15 goals last year with 164 shots on goal giving him a shooting percentage of 9%. He had a total of 55 assists on the year and averaged 24.5 minutes played per contest. Nikita Kucherov averaged 19.5 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he had a shooting percentage of 17% by scoring 40 goals on 243 attempts. He had 44 assists giving him a total of 84 points on the year. Andrei Vasilevskiy had 23 wins and 17 losses last season in net for the Lightning. He had 1,480 shots against him and he gave up 123 goals. He made 1,357 saves for a save percentage of 92%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Panthers had 81 total points last year, which was 23rd in the NHL. They scored 210 goals while giving up 237 scores, which had them ranked 23rd and 11th respectively. They had 265 power play chances and scored 45 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 17%. That was 23rd in the league. The Panthers gave up 245 power play opportunities and surrendered 36 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 85%, ranking them 2nd when short-handed. They averaged 32 shots per contest and as a team shot 7.94% for the year. They allowed 32 shot attempts to their opposition per game and had a team save percentage of 91%, which was 14th in the league.

Useful Team Statistics

The Lightning were 18th in the league with a total of 94 points last season. They had 62 power play goals on 272 chances for a percentage of 23%. That was 6th in the NHL. They gave up 258 power play opportunities and surrendered 48 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 81%, ranking 13th overall. As a team, the Lightning were 14th with a total of 234 goals scored while they gave up 227 goals last season, ranking 15th in goals against. They averaged 30 shots per game and had a team shooting percentage of 9.54%. As a unit they gave up 30 shots per contest and had a save percentage of 91%, putting them 16th overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

The Panthers started possessions in the offensive zone 52.9% of the time while their defensive zone percentage was at 47.1% for the year. That ranked them 6th and 25th respectively in the NHL. They had 2,384 face-off wins as opposed to 2,590 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage was 47.9%. That was 24th in the league. On defense Florida had 1,665 hits and they blocked 919 attempts from opposing offenses, ranking them 30th in blocked shots. Florida was ranked 4th in Corsi percentage with 51.7% as they tried 4,667 shots on goal while at full strength while they surrendered 4,362 shots on net when they had a full team on the ice. Their Fenwick percentage was 9th in the NHL at 51.2%, as they had 3,616 shots while they gave up 3,443 attempts on defense.

Advanced Statistics

The Lightning were 15th in the league in starting possessions in the offensive zone, doing so 50.7% of the time. Their defensive zone percentage was at 49.3% for the season, which was 18th in the NHL. They had 2,376 face-off wins compared to 2,609 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage was 47.7%. That was 29th in the league. On defense Tampa Bay had 1,842 hits and they blocked 1,014 shots from the opposition, which was 29th in the league. Tampa Bay was 9th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 51% as they attempted 4,594 shots on net at full strength while they gave up 4,412 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage of 50.5% ranked 13th as they had 3,470 attempts while they gave up 3,398 shots on the defensive end.

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

Guy's Pick: Take Florida +135

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