Boston Bruins at Tampa Bay Lightning NHL Picks & Predictions 4/28/2018

Saturday, April 28, 2018

Amalie Arena

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Boston Bruins head to Amalie Arena to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday, April 28, 2018 in Game 1 of their series. The opening line for this contest has the Bruins at +170 and the Lightning at -225.

Boston had a record of 50-20-12 this year and away from home they had a record of 22-12-7-3. They were 2nd in the Atlantic Division. They tallied 270 goals and surrendered 214 goals for a point differential of +56. For the year they have an ATS mark of 54-35-0 and an over/under record of 40-44-0. Tampa Bay had a regular season record of 54-23-5 including 29-10-2-0 on home ice this year. They were 1st in the Atlantic Division. They scored 296 goals and gave up 236 for a goal differential of +60. Their record against the spread is 58-29-0 while their over/under mark is 52-33-0.

Valuable Boston Bruins Betting Trends

The Boston Bruins are 54-35-0 straight up this year

The Boston Bruins are 40-44-0 against the over/under this season

Important Tampa Bay Lightning Betting Trends

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 58-29-0 straight up this year

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 52-33-0 against the over/under this season

Key Boston Bruins Injuries

04/25/18 D Brandon Carlo Lower Body is out indefinitely
02/01/18 LW Anders Bjork Shoulder IR (01/30)

Key Tampa Bay Lightning Injuries

04/23/18 LW Adam Erne Lower Body is out indefinitely

Player Spotlight

Brad Marchand has scored 85 total points this year for the Bruins. He has 34 goals this season with 182 shots on net, giving him a shooting percentage of 19%. He has a total of 51 assists on the year and averages 19.7 minutes played per contest. David Pastrnak averages 18 minutes of ice time per game this season. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 14% by tallying 35 goals on 246 attempts. He has 45 assists, giving him a total of 80 points on the year. Tuukka Rask has 34 wins and 14 losses this season in goal for the Bruins. He has 1,513 shots against him and he's surrendered 125 goals. He's made 1,388 stops for a save percentage of 92%.

Player Spotlight

Brayden Point has 66 total points this season for the Lightning. He has 32 goals this year with 217 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 15%. He has a total of 34 assists on the year and averages 19.6 minutes played per contest. Nikita Kucherov averages 19.8 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 14% by scoring 39 goals on 279 attempts. He has 61 assists, giving him a total of 100 points on the year. Andrei Vasilevskiy has 44 wins and 17 losses this season in net for the Lightning. He has 2,075 shots against him and he's given up 167 goals. He's made 1,908 saves for a save percentage of 92%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Bruins have 112 total points this year, which is 4th in the NHL. They've scored 270 goals while giving up 214 scores, which has them ranked 6th and 29th respectively. They have had 258 power play chances and scored 61 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 24%. That is 4th in the league. The Bruins have given up 245 power play opportunities and surrendered 40 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 84%, ranking them 3rd when short-handed. They average 33 shots per contest and as a team shoot 9.99% for the year. They allow 29 shot attempts to their opposition per game and have a team save percentage of 91%, which is 9th in the league.

Useful Team Statistics

The Lightning are 3rd in the league with a total of 113 points this season. They have 66 power play goals on 276 chances for a percentage of 24%. That is 3rd in the NHL. They've given up 267 power play opportunities and surrendered 64 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 76%, ranking 28th overall. As a team, the Lightning are 1st with a total of 296 goals scored while they've given up 236 goals this season, ranking 19th in goals against. They average 33 shots per game and have a team shooting percentage of 11.04%. As a unit they give up 33 shots per contest and have a save percentage of 91%, putting them 8th overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Boston is 2nd in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 52.7%, as they've attempted 4,909 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 4,404 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage is 52.8% as they have 3,732 attempts while they have given up 3,332 shots on the defensive end. That ranks them 2nd in the league. The Bruins start possessions in the offensive zone 55.1% of the time, which is 3rd in the league, while their defensive zone percentage is at 44.9% for the season. That is 29th overall in the NHL. They have 2,577 face-off wins compared to 2,501 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 50.7%. That ranks them 9th in the league. On defense Boston has 1,914 hits and they have blocked 1,072 shots from the opposition, putting them 30th overall.

Advanced Statistics

The Lightning are 9th in the league in starting possessions in the offensive zone, doing so 52.9% of the time. Their defensive zone percentage is at 47.1% for the season, which is 27th in the NHL. They have 2,441 face-off wins compared to 2,621 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 48.2%. That is 29th in the league. On defense Tampa Bay has 1,728 hits and they have blocked 1,127 shots from the opposition, which is 26th in the league. Tampa Bay is 14th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 51.3% as they've attempted 4,952 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 4,709 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage of 51.2% ranks 14th as they have 3,764 attempts while they have given up 3,582 shots on the defensive end.

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

Josh's Pick: Take Boston +170

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