Edmonton Oilers at Tampa Bay Lightning NHL Picks & Predictions 3/18/2018

Sunday, March 18, 2018

Amalie Arena

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Edmonton Oilers travel to Amalie Arena to play the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday, March 18, 2018. The opening line for this game has the Oilers at +155 and the Lightning at -175.

Edmonton has a record of 30-35-5 this season and on the road they have a record of 14-18-2-1. They are 6th in the Pacific Division. They've scored 196 goals and given up 226 goals for a point differential of -30. For the season they have an ATS record of 30-40-0 and an over/under record of 33-34-0. Tampa Bay has a record of 48-18-4 including 25-7-2-0 at home this season. They are 1st in the Atlantic Division. They've scored 257 goals and surrendered 198 for a goal differential of +59. Their record against the spread is 48-22-0 while their over/under record is 45-24-0.

Valuable Edmonton Oilers Betting Trends

The Edmonton Oilers are 30-40-0 straight up this year

The Edmonton Oilers are 33-34-0 against the over/under this season

Important Tampa Bay Lightning Betting Trends

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 48-22-0 straight up this year

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 45-24-0 against the over/under this season

Key Edmonton Oilers Injuries

03/16/18 D Kris Russell Undisclosed is doubtful Saturday vs Florida
03/16/18 D Matt Benning Illness is "?" Saturday vs Florida
03/16/18 LW Pontus Aberg Triceps is OUT Saturday vs Florida

Key Tampa Bay Lightning Injuries

01/22/18 LW Ondrej Palat Lower Body IR (01/20)

Player Spotlight

Cam Talbot has 25 wins and 27 losses this season in net for the Oilers. He has 1,694 shots against him and he's given up 157 goals. He's made 1,537 saves for a save percentage of 91%. Leon Draisaitl has accumulated 61 total points this season for the Oilers. He has 22 goals this year with 164 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 13%. He has a total of 39 assists on the season and averages 19.3 minutes played per game. Connor McDavid averages 21.6 minutes of ice time per game this year. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 14% by scoring 33 goals on 238 shots. He has 53 assists, giving him a total of 86 points on the season.

Player Spotlight

Brayden Point has scored 57 total points this year for the Lightning. He has 27 goals this season with 188 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 14%. He has a total of 30 assists on the season and averages 19.7 minutes played per game. Andrei Vasilevskiy has 40 wins and 13 losses this year in goal for the Lightning. He has 1,827 shots against him and he's surrendered 141 goals. He's made 1,686 saves for a save percentage of 92%. Nikita Kucherov averages 20 minutes of ice time per game. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 14% by scoring 34 goals on 245 shots. He has 57 assists, giving him a total of 91 points on the season.

Useful Team Statistics

The Oilers have allowed 213 power play opportunities and have given up 54 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 75% this year. That is 30th in the NHL. They average 34 shots per game and as a team shoot 8.30% for the season. They allow 32 shots to their opposition per contest and have a team save percentage of 90%, which is ranked 28th in the league. The Oilers has 65 total points this season, ranking 25th in the NHL in offense. They are 23rd in the league with 196 goals while they've given up 226 goals, which is 6th overall. They have had 175 power play opportunities and scored 26 goals on those chances for a percentage of 15%. That is 31st in the NHL.

Useful Team Statistics

As a team, the Lightning are 1st with 257 goals scored while they are 23rd in the NHL with 198 goals allowed this year. They average 33 shots per contest and have a team shooting percentage of 11.23%. They give up 33 shots per game and have a save percentage of 92%, putting them in 6th place in the league. The Lightning have a total of 100 points this year, which is 2nd in the NHL. They have 58 power play goals on 239 opportunities for a percentage of 24%. That ranks their power play unit 2nd. They've allowed 229 power play opportunities and have given up 53 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 77%, which is 26th overall.

Advanced Statistics

Edmonton is 9th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 51.3%, as they've attempted 4,364 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 4,136 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage is 51.9% as they have 3,259 attempts while they have given up 3,017 shots on the defensive end. That ranks them 5th in the league. The Oilers start possessions in the offensive zone 52.7% of the time, which is 6th in the league, while their defensive zone percentage is at 47.3% for the season. That is 27th overall in the NHL. They have 2,076 face-off wins compared to 2,177 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 48.8%. That ranks them 21st in the league. On defense Edmonton has 1,903 hits and they have blocked 1,119 shots from the opposition, putting them 6th overall.

Advanced Statistics

The Lightning start possessions in the offensive zone 52.4% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 47.6% for the year. That ranks them 12th and 25th respectively in the NHL. They have 2,081 face-off wins as opposed to 2,267 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 47.9%. That is 29th in the league. On defense Tampa Bay has 1,443 hits and they've blocked 975 attempts from opposing offenses, ranking them 25th in blocked shots. Tampa Bay is ranked 14th in Corsi percentage with 51.4% as they've tried 4,281 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 4,042 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. Their Fenwick percentage is 14th in the NHL at 51.2%, as they have 3,223 shots while they've given up 3,067 attempts on defense.

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

Josh's Pick: Take Tampa Bay -175

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