Tampa Bay Lightning at Vegas Golden Knights NHL Picks & Predictions 12/19/2017

Tuesday, December 19, 2017

T-Mobile Arena

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Tampa Bay Lightning head to T-Mobile Arena to take on the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday, December 19, 2017. The opening line for this contest has the Lightning at -130 and the Golden Knights at +118.

Tampa Bay has a record of 24-6-2 this year and away from home they have a record of 11-4-1. They are 1st in the Atlantic Division. They have tallied 123 goals and surrendered 80 goals for a point differential of +43. For the year they have an ATS mark of 24-8-0 and an over/under record of 19-13-0. Vegas has a record of 21-9-2 including 13-2-1 on home ice this year. They are 1st in the Pacific Division. They've scored 112 goals and have given up 97 for a goal differential of +15. Their record against the spread is 21-11-0 while their over/under mark is 20-10-0.

Valuable Tampa Bay Lightning Betting Trends

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 24-8-0 straight up this year

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 19-13-0 against the over/under this season

Important Vegas Golden Knights Betting Trends

The Vegas Golden Knights are 21-11-0 straight up this year

The Vegas Golden Knights are 20-10-0 against the over/under this season

Key Tampa Bay Lightning Injuries

12/15/17 RW Ryan Callahan Shoulder is out indefinitely
11/27/17 D Jake Dotchin Undisclosed IR (11/20)

Key Vegas Golden Knights Injuries

12/17/17 D Luca Sbisa Lower Body is "?" Tuesday vs Tampa Bay
11/30/17 LW William Carrier Upper Body IR (11/26)
10/31/17 GO Oscar Dansk Lower Body IR (10/30)
10/15/17 RW David Clarkson Back IR (10/03)
10/15/17 C Mikhail Grabovski Concussion IR (10/03)
10/06/17 D Clayton Stoner Abdominal IR (10/02)

Player Spotlight

Nikita Kucherov has scored 46 total points this year for the Lightning. He has 23 goals this season with 111 shots on net, giving him a shooting percentage of 21%. He has a total of 23 assists on the year and averages 20.5 minutes played per contest. Brayden Point averages 19.1 minutes of ice time per game this season. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 18% by tallying 14 goals on 76 attempts. He has 17 assists, giving him a total of 31 points on the year. Andrei Vasilevskiy has 21 wins and 4 losses this season in goal for the Lightning. He has 839 shots against him and he's surrendered 55 goals. He's made 784 stops for a save percentage of 93%.

Player Spotlight

James Neal has 26 total points this season for the Golden Knights. He has 16 goals this year with 94 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 17%. He has a total of 10 assists on the year and averages 17.5 minutes played per contest. David Perron averages 17.7 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 15% by scoring 7 goals on 46 attempts. He has 17 assists, giving him a total of 24 points on the year. Marc-Andre Fleury has 4 wins and 2 losses this season in net for the Golden Knights. He has 196 shots against him and he's given up 13 goals. He's made 183 saves for a save percentage of 93%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Lightning have 50 total points this year, which is 1st in the NHL. They've scored 123 goals while giving up 80 scores, which has them ranked 1st and 30th respectively. They have had 117 power play chances and scored 32 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 27%. That is 1st in the league. The Lightning have given up 102 power play opportunities and surrendered 19 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 81%, ranking them 15th when short-handed. They average 32 shots per contest and as a team shoot 11.86% 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 Golden Knights are 5th in the league with a total of 44 points this season. They have 19 power play goals on 109 chances for a percentage of 17%. That is 21st in the NHL. They've given up 101 power play opportunities and surrendered 21 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 79%, ranking 23rd overall. As a team, the Golden Knights are 4th with a total of 112 goals scored while they've given up 97 goals this season, ranking 17th in goals against. They average 32 shots per game and have a team shooting percentage of 10.84%. As a unit they give up 31 shots per contest and have a save percentage of 90%, putting them 18th overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Tampa Bay is 11th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 51.9%, as they've attempted 1,965 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 1,818 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage is 51.7% as they have 1,484 attempts while they have given up 1,388 shots on the defensive end. That ranks them 11th in the league. The Lightning start possessions in the offensive zone 54.5% of the time, which is 6th in the league, while their defensive zone percentage is at 45.5% for the season. That is 26th overall in the NHL. They have 940 face-off wins compared to 1,066 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 46.9%. That ranks them 30th in the league. On defense Tampa Bay has 611 hits and they have blocked 430 shots from the opposition, putting them 29th overall.

Advanced Statistics

The Golden Knights are 17th in the league in starting possessions in the offensive zone, doing so 50.7% of the time. Their defensive zone percentage is at 49.3% for the season, which is 18th in the NHL. They have 1,022 face-off wins compared to 1,017 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 50.1%. That is 20th in the league. On defense Vegas has 608 hits and they have blocked 500 shots from the opposition, which is 10th in the league. Vegas is 13th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 51.3% as they've attempted 1,943 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 1,846 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage of 51.8% ranks 12th as they have 1,444 attempts while they have given up 1,346 shots on the defensive end.

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

Tony's Pick: Take Tampa Bay -130

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