Tampa Bay Lightning at Colorado Avalanche NHL Picks & Predictions 12/16/2017

Saturday, December 16, 2017

Pepsi Center

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Tampa Bay Lightning head to Pepsi Center to take on the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday, December 16, 2017. The opening line for this contest has the Lightning at -170 and the Avalanche at +153.

Tampa Bay has a record of 22-6-2 this year and away from home they have a record of 10-4-1. They are 1st in the Atlantic Division. They have tallied 117 goals and surrendered 75 goals for a point differential of +42. For the year they have an ATS mark of 23-8-0 and an over/under record of 18-13-0. Colorado has a record of 14-14-2 including 9-5-1 on home ice this year. They are 7th in the Central Division. They've scored 96 goals and have given up 101 for a goal differential of -5. Their record against the spread is 15-16-0 while their over/under mark is 19-12-0.

Valuable Tampa Bay Lightning Betting Trends

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 23-8-0 straight up this year

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 18-13-0 against the over/under this season

Important Colorado Avalanche Betting Trends

The Colorado Avalanche are 15-16-0 straight up this year

The Colorado Avalanche are 19-12-0 against the over/under this season

Key Tampa Bay Lightning Injuries

12/14/17 D Braydon Coburn Lower Body is "?" Saturday vs Colorado
12/14/17 RW Ryan Callahan Shoulder left last game, is "?" Saturday vs Colorado
11/27/17 D Jake Dotchin Undisclosed IR (11/20)

Key Colorado Avalanche Injuries

12/14/17 C Alexander Kerfoot Lower Body is "?" Saturday vs Tampa Bay
12/14/17 RW Nail Yakupov Illness is "?" Saturday vs Tampa Bay
11/19/17 C Vladislav Kamenev Arm IR (11/16)

Player Spotlight

Nikita Kucherov has scored 42 total points this year for the Lightning. He has 21 goals this season with 103 shots on net, giving him a shooting percentage of 20%. He has a total of 21 assists on the year and averages 20.7 minutes played per contest. Brayden Point averages 19.2 minutes of ice time per game this season. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 19% by tallying 13 goals on 70 attempts. He has 15 assists, giving him a total of 28 points on the year. Andrei Vasilevskiy has 20 wins and 4 losses this season in goal for the Lightning. He has 806 shots against him and he's surrendered 54 goals. He's made 752 stops for a save percentage of 93%.

Player Spotlight

Mikko Rantanen has 25 total points this season for the Avalanche. He has 9 goals this year with 65 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 14%. He has a total of 16 assists on the year and averages 18.7 minutes played per contest. Nathan MacKinnon averages 19.8 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 12% by scoring 11 goals on 92 attempts. He has 22 assists, giving him a total of 33 points on the year. Semyon Varlamov has 9 wins and 8 losses this season in net for the Avalanche. He has 606 shots against him and he's given up 59 goals. He's made 547 saves for a save percentage of 90%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Lightning have 46 total points this year, which is 1st in the NHL. They've scored 113 goals while giving up 74 scores, which has them ranked 1st and 29th respectively. They have had 112 power play chances and scored 31 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 28%. That is 1st in the league. The Lightning have given up 93 power play opportunities and surrendered 16 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 83%, ranking them 8th when short-handed. They average 32 shots per contest and as a team shoot 11.80% for the year. They allow 32 shot attempts to their opposition per game and have a team save percentage of 92%, which is 2nd in the league.

Useful Team Statistics

The Avalanche are 24th in the league with a total of 30 points this season. They have 22 power play goals on 124 chances for a percentage of 18%. That is 21st in the NHL. They've given up 115 power play opportunities and surrendered 22 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 81%, ranking 17th overall. As a team, the Avalanche are 12th with a total of 94 goals scored while they've given up 100 goals this season, ranking 9th in goals against. They average 29 shots per game and have a team shooting percentage of 10.69%. As a unit they give up 32 shots per contest and have a save percentage of 90%, putting them 24th overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Tampa Bay has a Corsi percentage of 52% as they've tried 1,835 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 1,696 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. That ranks them 11th in Corsi percentage. They are 12th in the NHL in Fenwick percentage with 51.4% as they have 1,376 shots while they've given up 1,300 attempts on defense. The Lightning start possessions in the offensive zone 55.1% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 44.9% for the year. That puts them 5th and 28th in the league in zone percentages respectively. They have 884 face-off wins as opposed to 994 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 47.1%. That is 30th overall in the NHL. On defense Tampa Bay has 574 hits and they've blocked 396 attempts from opposing offenses, which is 30th in the league.

Advanced Statistics

The Avalanche are 20th in the league in starting possessions in the offensive zone, doing so 49% of the time. Their defensive zone percentage is at 51% for the season, which is 8th in the NHL. They have 810 face-off wins compared to 1,033 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 44%. That is 31st in the league. On defense Colorado has 544 hits and they have blocked 445 shots from the opposition, which is 20th in the league. Colorado is 28th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 47.4% as they've attempted 1,622 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 1,798 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage of 47% ranks 25th as they have 1,198 attempts while they have given up 1,353 shots on the defensive end.

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

Tony's Pick: Take Tampa Bay -170

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