Saturday, March 4, 2017

First Niagara Center

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The Tampa Bay Lightning head to First Niagara Center to take on the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday, March 4, 2017. The opening line for this contest has the Lightning at -140 and the Sabres at +127. The over/under has been set at 5.5.

Tampa Bay comes into this game having played 62 games. They have an overall record of 29-25-8 and away from home they have a record of 12-14-6. The currently are 6th in the Atlantic Division. They've scored 175 goals and surrendered 174 goals for a point differential of +1. The Lightning have an overall record of 7-1-2 in their last 10 games. For the season they have an ATS record of 26-33 and an over/under record of 29-26-7. Buffalo shows up with a record of 26-26-11 including 16-11-5 at home this season. They are 7th in the Atlantic Division. They've scored 162 goals and surrendered 184 for a goal differential of -22. The Sabres have a record of 5-4-1 in their last 10 contests. Their record against the spread is 26-37 while their over/under record sits at 28-30-6.

Victor Hedman has accumulated 53 total points this season for the Lightning. He has 12 goals this season with 120 shots on goal giving him a shooting percentage of 10%. He has a total of 41 assists on the season and averages 24.3 minutes played per game. Nikita Kucherov has averaged 19 minutes of ice time per game this year. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 15% by scoring 27 goals on 181 shots. He has 34 assists giving him a total of 61 points on the season. Andrei Vasilevskiy has 13 wins and 13 losses this season in net for the Lightning. He has had 982 shots against him and has given up 87 goals. He has made 895 saves for a save percentage of 91%.

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Kyle Okposo has accumulated 43 total points this season for the Sabres. He has 19 goals this season with 151 shots on goal giving him a shooting percentage of 13%. He has a total of 24 assists on the season and averages 19.1 minutes played per game. Sam Reinhart has averaged 17.4 minutes of ice time per game. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 10% by scoring 15 goals on 147 shots. He has 25 assists giving him a total of 40 points on the season. Robin Lehner has 17 wins and 18 losses this season in net for the Sabres. He has had 1,451 shots against him and has given up 113 goals. He has made 1,338 saves for a save percentage of 92%.

The Lightning have 66 total points this season. They have scored 175 goals while giving up 174 goals. They have had 215 power play opportunities and have scored 49 goals on those chances for a percentage of 23%. The Lightning have allowed 206 power play opportunities and given up 40 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 81%. They average 30 shots per game and as a team are shooting 9.46% for the season to this point. They allow 30 shots to their opposition per contest and have a team save percentage of 91%.

The Sabres have a total of 63 points on the season. They have 42 power play goals on 189 opportunities thus far for a percentage of 22%. They have allowed 186 power play opportunities and have given up 45 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 76%. As a team, the Lightning have a total of 156 goals scored while they've given up 181 goals to this point. They average 30 shots per contest and have a team shooting percentage of 8.33%. As a team they give up 34 shots per game and have a save percentage of 92%.

Tampa Bay has a Corsi percentage of 51.2% as they've attempted 3,473 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 3,315 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage is at 50.7% as they have 2,616 attempts while they've given up 2,542 shots on the defensive end. The Lightning start possessions in the offensive zone 50.9% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 49.1% for the season. They have 1,832 face off wins compared to 1,935 losses, meaning their faceoff win percentage is 48.6%. On defense has 1,343 hits and they've blocked 773 shots from the opposition.

Buffalo has attempted 3,373 shots at full strength and they've given up 3,823 attempts, meaning their Corsi percentage is at 46.9% for the season. In terms of Fenwick percentage, they currently are at 46.5% as they have 2,561 shots while they've given up 2,945 attempts on defense. The Sabres have an offensive zone percentage of 47.9% and their defensive zone percentage is 52.1% so far this season. They have a faceoff win percentage of 49.9% as they've compiled 1,897 face off wins this season and they have suffered 1,901 face off losses. On defense has blocked 878 shot attempts and they have 1,455 hits as a unit.

Tampa Bay Lightning Betting Trends

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 26-33 straight up

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 29-26-7 against the over/under

Buffalo Sabres Betting Trends

The Buffalo Sabres are 26-37 straight up

The Buffalo Sabres are 28-30-6 against the over/under

Tampa Bay Lightning Injuries

11/16/16 C Steven Stamkos Knee out 4 months
01/15/17 RW Ryan Callahan Hip out for season

Buffalo Sabres Injuries

12/31/16 C Johan Larsson Wrist out for season
11/12/16 C Cody McCormick Blood Clot out indefinitely
03/03/17 RW Kyle Okposo Upper Body injured last game, "?" Saturday vs. Tampa Bay
02/18/17 C Derek Grant Shoulder out indefinitely
02/10/17 C Zemgus Girgensons Abdominal out indefinitely
02/04/17 LW William Carrier Knee out indefinitely

Josh's Pick: Take Tampa Bay -140

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