Tampa Bay Lightning at Florida Panthers NHL Picks & Predictions 9/28/2017

Thursday, September 28, 2017

BB&T Center

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Tampa Bay Lightning travel to BB&T Center to play the Florida Panthers on Thursday, September 28, 2017. The opening line for this game has the Lightning at -120 and the Panthers at +100.

Tampa Bay had a record of 42-30-10 last season and on the road they had a record of 19-16-6. They finished 5th in the Atlantic Division. They scored 234 goals and gave up 227 goals for a point differential of +7. For the season they had an ATS record of 42-40-0 and an over/under record of 38-38-0. Florida finished with a record of 35-36-11 including 19-19-3 at home last season. They were 6th in the Atlantic Division. They scored 210 goals and surrendered 237 for a goal differential of -27. Their record against the spread was 35-47-0 while their over/under record was 36-36-0.

Valuable 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

Important 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

Key Tampa Bay Lightning Injuries

9/26/2017 Erik Condra RW Back

Key Florida Panthers Injuries

9/25/2017 Adam Mascherin LW Shoulder
9/25/2017 Vincent Trocheck C Upper Body

Player Spotlight

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%. Nikita Kucherov accumulated 84 total points last season for the Lightning. He had 40 goals last year with 243 shots on goal giving him a shooting percentage of 17%. He had a total of 44 assists on the season and averaged 19.5 minutes played per game. Victor Hedman averaged 24.5 minutes of ice time per game last year. In that time he had a shooting percentage of 9% by scoring 15 goals on 164 shots. He had 55 assists giving him a total of 70 points on the season.

Player Spotlight

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

Useful Team Statistics

The Lightning allowed 258 power play opportunities and gave up 48 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 81%. They averaged 30 shots per game and as a team shot 9.54% for the season. They allowed 30 shots to their opposition per contest and had a team save percentage of 91%. The Lightning had 94 total points last season. They scored 234 goals while giving up 227 goals. They had 272 power play opportunities and scored 62 goals on those chances for a percentage of 23%.

Useful Team Statistics

As a team, the Panthers had a total of 210 goals scored while they gave up 237 goals last year. They averaged 32 shots per contest and had a team shooting percentage of 7.94%. They gave up 32 shots per game and had a save percentage of 91%. The Panthers had a total of 81 points last year. They had 45 power play goals on 265 opportunities for a percentage of 17%. They allowed 245 power play opportunities and gave up 36 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 85%.

Advanced Statistics

The Lightning started possessions in the offensive zone 50.7% of the time while their defensive zone percentage was at 49.3% for the season. They had 2,376 face-off wins compared to 2,609 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage was 47.7%. On defense Tampa Bay had 1,842 hits and they blocked 1,014 shots from the opposition. Tampa Bay had a Corsi percentage of 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 was 50.5% as they had 3,470 attempts while they gave up 3,398 shots on the defensive end.

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. They had 2,384 face-off wins as opposed to 2,590 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage was 47.9%. On defense Florida had 1,665 hits and they blocked 919 attempts from opposing offenses. Florida had a Corsi percentage of 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 51.2% as they had 3,616 shots while they gave up 3,443 attempts on defense.

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

Josh's Pick: Take Florida +100

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