Tampa Bay Lightning at Columbus Blue Jackets NHL Picks & Predictions 12/31/2017

Sunday, December 31, 2017

Nationwide Arena

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Tampa Bay Lightning travel to Nationwide Arena to play the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday, December 31, 2017. The opening line for this game has the Lightning at -123 and the Blue Jackets at +111.

Tampa Bay has a record of 27-8-2 this season and on the road they have a record of 11-5-1-1. They are 1st in the Atlantic Division. They've scored 139 goals and given up 93 goals for a point differential of +46. For the season they have an ATS record of 27-9-0 and an over/under record of 21-15-0. Columbus has a record of 22-14-3 including 14-6-0-0 at home this season. They are 3rd in the Metropolitan Division. They've scored 113 goals and surrendered 109 for a goal differential of +4. Their record against the spread is 22-16-0 while their over/under record is 18-19-0.

Valuable Tampa Bay Lightning Betting Trends

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 27-9-0 straight up this year

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 21-15-0 against the over/under this season

Important Columbus Blue Jackets Betting Trends

The Columbus Blue Jackets are 22-16-0 straight up this year

The Columbus Blue Jackets are 18-19-0 against the over/under this season

Key Tampa Bay Lightning Injuries

12/30/17 GO Peter Budaj Lower Body injured last game, is doubtful Sunday vs Columbus
12/29/17 D Anton Stralman Lower Body is "?" Sunday vs Columbus
12/15/17 RW Ryan Callahan Shoulder IR (12/14)

Key Columbus Blue Jackets Injuries

12/25/17 C Alexander Wennberg Back IR (12/19)
12/25/17 RW Cam Atkinson Foot IR (12/24)
12/13/17 C Brandon Dubinsky Facial IR (12/12)
12/01/17 D Ryan Murray Upper Body IR (11/27)

Player Spotlight

Andrei Vasilevskiy has 24 wins and 5 losses this season in net for the Lightning. He has 954 shots against him and he's given up 63 goals. He's made 891 saves for a save percentage of 93%. Nikita Kucherov has accumulated 54 total points this season for the Lightning. He has 24 goals this year with 135 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 18%. He has a total of 30 assists on the season and averages 20.8 minutes played per game. Brayden Point averages 19.2 minutes of ice time per game this year. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 18% by scoring 16 goals on 87 shots. He has 18 assists, giving him a total of 34 points on the season.

Player Spotlight

Artemi Panarin has scored 34 total points this year for the Blue Jackets. He has 10 goals this season with 105 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 10%. He has a total of 24 assists on the season and averages 20.3 minutes played per game. Sergei Bobrovsky has 18 wins and 11 losses this year in goal for the Blue Jackets. He has 976 shots against him and he's surrendered 80 goals. He's made 896 saves for a save percentage of 92%. Josh Anderson averages 18.1 minutes of ice time per game. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 12% by scoring 14 goals on 120 shots. He has 10 assists, giving him a total of 24 points on the season.

Useful Team Statistics

The Lightning have allowed 125 power play opportunities and have given up 27 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 78% this year. That is 24th in the NHL. They average 33 shots per game and as a team shoot 11.54% for the season. They allow 32 shots to their opposition per contest and have a team save percentage of 92%, which is ranked 2nd in the league. The Lightning has 56 total points this season, ranking 1st in the NHL in offense. They are 1st in the league with 139 goals while they've given up 93 goals, which is 29th overall. They have had 139 power play opportunities and scored 36 goals on those chances for a percentage of 26%. That is 1st in the NHL.

Useful Team Statistics

As a team, the Blue Jackets are 14th with 113 goals scored while they are 20th in the NHL with 109 goals allowed this year. They average 34 shots per contest and have a team shooting percentage of 8.52%. They give up 31 shots per game and have a save percentage of 91%, putting them in 11th place in the league. The Blue Jackets have a total of 47 points this year, which is 10th in the NHL. They have 14 power play goals on 115 opportunities for a percentage of 12%. That ranks their power play unit 31st. They've allowed 105 power play opportunities and have given up 20 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 81%, which is 17th overall.

Advanced Statistics

Tampa Bay is 5th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 52.6%, as they've attempted 2,298 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 2,074 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage is 52.1% as they have 1,725 attempts while they have given up 1,583 shots on the defensive end. That ranks them 9th in the league. The Lightning start possessions in the offensive zone 54.3% of the time, which is 7th in the league, while their defensive zone percentage is at 45.7% for the season. That is 29th overall in the NHL. They have 1,083 face-off wins compared to 1,224 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 46.9%. That ranks them 30th in the league. On defense Tampa Bay has 702 hits and they have blocked 491 shots from the opposition, putting them 28th overall.

Advanced Statistics

The Blue Jackets are 12th in the league in starting possessions in the offensive zone, doing so 50.8% of the time. Their defensive zone percentage is at 49.2% for the season, which is 16th in the NHL. They have 1,119 face-off wins compared to 1,245 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 47.3%. That is 28th in the league. On defense Columbus has 868 hits and they have blocked 576 shots from the opposition, which is 10th in the league. Columbus is 11th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 51.1% as they've attempted 2,319 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 2,219 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage of 52.2% ranks 7th as they have 1,791 attempts while they have given up 1,643 shots on the defensive end.

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

Josh's Pick: Take Columbus +111

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