Tampa Bay Lightning at Boston Bruins NHL Picks & Predictions 5/4/2018

Friday, May 4, 2018

TD Garden

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Tampa Bay Lightning head to TD Garden to take on the Boston Bruins on Friday, May 4, 2018 in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Tampa Bay leads the series 2-1. The opening line for this contest has the Lightning at +123 and the Bruins at -159.

Tampa Bay had a record of 54-23-5 this year and away from home they had a record of 25-13-3-2. They were 1st in the Atlantic Division. They tallied 296 goals and surrendered 236 goals for a point differential of +60. For the year they have an ATS mark of 60-30-0 and an over/under record of 53-34-0. Boston had a regular season record of 50-20-12 including 28-8-5-0 on home ice this year. They were 2nd in the Atlantic Division. They scored 270 goals and gave up 214 for a goal differential of +56. Their record against the spread is 55-37-0 while their over/under mark is 41-45-0.

Valuable Tampa Bay Lightning Betting Trends

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 60-30-0 straight up this year

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 53-34-0 against the over/under this season

Important Boston Bruins Betting Trends

The Boston Bruins are 55-37-0 straight up this year

The Boston Bruins are 41-45-0 against the over/under this season

Key Tampa Bay Lightning Injuries

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

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)

Player Spotlight

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

Player Spotlight

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

Useful Team Statistics

The Lightning have 113 total points this year, which is 3rd in the NHL. They've scored 296 goals while giving up 236 scores, which has them ranked 1st and 19th respectively. They have had 276 power play chances and scored 66 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 24%. That is 3rd in the league. The Lightning have given up 267 power play opportunities and surrendered 64 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 76%, ranking them 28th when short-handed. They average 33 shots per contest and as a team shoot 11.04% for the year. They allow 33 shot attempts to their opposition per game and have a team save percentage of 91%, which is 8th in the league.

Useful Team Statistics

The Bruins are 4th in the league with a total of 112 points this season. They have 61 power play goals on 258 chances for a percentage of 24%. That is 4th in the NHL. They've given up 245 power play opportunities and surrendered 40 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 84%, ranking 3rd overall. As a team, the Bruins are 6th with a total of 270 goals scored while they've given up 214 goals this season, ranking 29th in goals against. They average 33 shots per game and have a team shooting percentage of 9.99%. As a unit they give up 29 shots per contest and have a save percentage of 91%, putting them 9th overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

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 is 51.2% as they have 3,764 attempts while they have given up 3,582 shots on the defensive end. That ranks them 14th in the league. The Lightning start possessions in the offensive zone 52.9% of the time, which is 9th in the league, while their defensive zone percentage is at 47.1% for the season. That is 27th overall 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 ranks them 29th in the league. On defense Tampa Bay has 1,728 hits and they have blocked 1,127 shots from the opposition, putting them 26th overall.

Advanced Statistics

The Bruins are 3rd in the league in starting possessions in the offensive zone, doing so 55.1% of the time. Their defensive zone percentage is at 44.9% for the season, which is 29th 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 is 9th in the league. On defense Boston has 1,914 hits and they have blocked 1,072 shots from the opposition, which is 30th in the league. 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 of 52.8% ranks 2nd as they have 3,732 attempts while they have given up 3,332 shots on the defensive end.

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

Josh's Pick: Take Tampa Bay +123

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