Montreal Canadiens at Tampa Bay Lightning NHL Picks & Predictions 12/28/2017

Thursday, December 28, 2017

Amalie Arena

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Montreal Canadiens head to Amalie Arena to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday, December 28, 2017. The opening line for this contest has the Canadiens at +136 and the Lightning at -150.

Montreal has a record of 16-16-4 this year and away from home they have a record of 7-9-1-1. They are 4th in the Atlantic Division. They have tallied 98 goals and surrendered 114 goals for a point differential of -16. For the year they have an ATS mark of 16-20-0 and an over/under record of 16-18-0. Tampa Bay has a record of 26-7-2 including 15-2-1-0 on home ice this year. They are 1st in the Atlantic Division. They've scored 133 goals and have given up 87 for a goal differential of +46. Their record against the spread is 26-9-0 while their over/under mark is 21-14-0.

Valuable Montreal Canadiens Betting Trends

The Montreal Canadiens are 16-20-0 straight up this year

The Montreal Canadiens are 16-18-0 against the over/under this season

Important Tampa Bay Lightning Betting Trends

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 26-9-0 straight up this year

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 21-14-0 against the over/under this season

Key Montreal Canadiens Injuries

12/27/17 D David Schlemko Flu is OUT Wednesday vs Carolina
12/18/17 D Shea Weber Foot IR (12/17)
11/12/17 GO Al Montoya Concussion IR (11/09)
10/22/17 RW Ales Hemsky Concussion IR (10/20)

Key Tampa Bay Lightning Injuries

12/15/17 RW Ryan Callahan Shoulder IR (12/14)

Player Spotlight

Brendan Gallagher has scored 20 total points this year for the Canadiens. He has 14 goals this season with 115 shots on net, giving him a shooting percentage of 12%. He has a total of 6 assists on the year and averages 15.4 minutes played per contest. Max Pacioretty averages 19.3 minutes of ice time per game this season. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 6% by tallying 8 goals on 140 attempts. He has 12 assists, giving him a total of 20 points on the year. Carey Price has 11 wins and 10 losses this season in goal for the Canadiens. He has 685 shots against him and he's surrendered 66 goals. He's made 619 stops for a save percentage of 90%.

Player Spotlight

Nikita Kucherov has 51 total points this season for the Lightning. He has 24 goals this year with 128 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 19%. He has a total of 27 assists on the year and averages 20.7 minutes played per contest. Brayden Point averages 19.2 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 18% by scoring 14 goals on 80 attempts. He has 18 assists, giving him a total of 32 points on the year. Andrei Vasilevskiy has 23 wins and 5 losses this season in net for the Lightning. He has 918 shots against him and he's given up 62 goals. He's made 856 saves for a save percentage of 93%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Canadiens have 36 total points this year, which is 25th in the NHL. They've scored 98 goals while giving up 114 scores, which has them ranked 25th and 7th respectively. They have had 110 power play chances and scored 21 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 19%. That is 19th in the league. The Canadiens have given up 118 power play opportunities and surrendered 27 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 77%, ranking them 28th when short-handed. They average 34 shots per contest and as a team shoot 8.04% for the year. They allow 32 shot attempts to their opposition per game and have a team save percentage of 90%, which is 21st in the league.

Useful Team Statistics

The Lightning are 1st in the league with a total of 54 points this season. They have 34 power play goals on 130 chances for a percentage of 26%. That is 1st in the NHL. They've given up 116 power play opportunities and surrendered 24 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 79%, ranking 21st overall. As a team, the Lightning are 1st with a total of 133 goals scored while they've given up 87 goals this season, ranking 29th in goals against. They average 33 shots per game and have a team shooting percentage of 11.63%. As a unit they give up 31 shots per contest and have a save percentage of 92%, putting them 2nd overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Montreal is 12th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 50.8%, as they've attempted 2,242 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 2,173 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage is 51% as they have 1,643 attempts while they have given up 1,579 shots on the defensive end. That ranks them 13th in the league. The Canadiens start possessions in the offensive zone 52.5% of the time, which is 10th in the league, while their defensive zone percentage is at 47.5% for the season. That is 22nd overall in the NHL. They have 1,116 face-off wins compared to 1,160 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 49%. That ranks them 23rd in the league. On defense Montreal has 890 hits and they have blocked 594 shots from the opposition, putting them 1st overall.

Advanced Statistics

The Lightning are 5th in the league in starting possessions in the offensive zone, doing so 54.6% of the time. Their defensive zone percentage is at 45.4% for the season, which is 29th in the NHL. They have 1,033 face-off wins compared to 1,158 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 47.1%. That is 30th in the league. On defense Tampa Bay has 664 hits and they have blocked 463 shots from the opposition, which is 29th in the league. Tampa Bay is 6th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 52.7% as they've attempted 2,177 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 1,952 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage of 52.4% ranks 10th as they have 1,640 attempts while they have given up 1,489 shots on the defensive end.

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

Guy's Pick: Take Montreal +136

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