Tampa Bay Lightning at Pittsburgh Penguins NHL Picks & Predictions 11/25/2017

Saturday, November 25, 2017

PPG Paints Arena

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Tampa Bay Lightning head to PPG Paints Arena to take on the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday, November 25, 2017. The opening line for this contest has the Lightning at -135 and the Penguins at +122.

Tampa Bay has a record of 16-3-2 this year and away from home they have a record of 7-1-1. They are 1st in the Atlantic Division. They have tallied 83 goals and surrendered 54 goals for a point differential of +29. For the year they have an ATS mark of 16-5-0 and an over/under record of 13-8-0. Pittsburgh has a record of 11-9-3 including 6-2-1 on home ice this year. They are 4th in the Metropolitan Division. They've scored 61 goals and have given up 80 for a goal differential of -19. Their record against the spread is 11-12-0 while their over/under mark is 12-11-0.

Valuable Tampa Bay Lightning Betting Trends

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 16-5-0 straight up this year

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 13-8-0 against the over/under this season

Important Pittsburgh Penguins Betting Trends

The Pittsburgh Penguins are 11-12-0 straight up this year

The Pittsburgh Penguins are 12-11-0 against the over/under this season

Key Tampa Bay Lightning Injuries

No key injuries to report

Key Pittsburgh Penguins Injuries

11/24/17 C Evgeni Malkin Upper Body is downgraded to OUT Friday vs. Boston
10/23/17 RW Carter Rowney Hand IR (10/21)

Player Spotlight

Nikita Kucherov has scored 33 total points this year for the Lightning. He has 17 goals this season with 81 shots on net, giving him a shooting percentage of 21%. He has a total of 16 assists on the year and averages 20.9 minutes played per contest. Brayden Point averages 19.5 minutes of ice time per game this season. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 18% by tallying 9 goals on 51 attempts. He has 12 assists, giving him a total of 21 points on the year. Andrei Vasilevskiy has 15 wins and 2 losses this season in goal for the Lightning. He has 589 shots against him and he's surrendered 42 goals. He's made 547 stops for a save percentage of 93%.

Player Spotlight

Phil Kessel has 26 total points this season for the Penguins. He has 8 goals this year with 88 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 9%. He has a total of 18 assists on the year and averages 18 minutes played per contest. Sidney Crosby averages 20.6 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 8% by scoring 6 goals on 75 attempts. He has 11 assists, giving him a total of 17 points on the year. Matthew Murray has 11 wins and 6 losses this season in net for the Penguins. He has 562 shots against him and he's given up 52 goals. He's made 510 saves for a save percentage of 91%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Lightning have 34 total points this year, which is 1st in the NHL. They've scored 83 goals while giving up 54 scores, which has them ranked 1st and 28th respectively. They have had 81 power play chances and scored 22 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 27%. That is 1st in the league. The Lightning have given up 72 power play opportunities and surrendered 12 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 83%, ranking them 11th when short-handed. They average 33 shots per contest and as a team shoot 12.06% for the year. They allow 32 shot attempts to their opposition per game and have a team save percentage of 92%, which is 6th in the league.

Useful Team Statistics

The Penguins are 12th in the league with a total of 25 points this season. They have 21 power play goals on 88 chances for a percentage of 24%. That is 4th in the NHL. They've given up 91 power play opportunities and surrendered 22 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 76%, ranking 26th overall. As a team, the Penguins are 22nd with a total of 61 goals scored while they've given up 80 goals this season, ranking 3rd in goals against. They average 36 shots per game and have a team shooting percentage of 7.44%. As a unit they give up 31 shots per contest and have a save percentage of 89%, putting them 28th overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Tampa Bay is 8th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 51.5%, as they've attempted 1,281 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 1,208 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage is 52% as they have 989 attempts while they have given up 913 shots on the defensive end. That ranks them 9th in the league. The Lightning start possessions in the offensive zone 54.2% of the time, which is 8th in the league, while their defensive zone percentage is at 45.8% for the season. That is 24th overall in the NHL. They have 629 face-off wins compared to 691 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 47.7%. That ranks them 27th in the league. On defense Tampa Bay has 407 hits and they have blocked 295 shots from the opposition, putting them 23rd overall.

Advanced Statistics

The Penguins are 6th 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 28th in the NHL. They have 747 face-off wins compared to 742 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 50.2%. That is 19th in the league. On defense Pittsburgh has 527 hits and they have blocked 346 shots from the opposition, which is 1st in the league. Pittsburgh is 12th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 51.4% as they've attempted 1,404 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 1,330 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage of 52.4% ranks 8th as they have 1,083 attempts while they have given up 984 shots on the defensive end.

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

Josh's Pick: Take Tampa Bay -135

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