Tampa Bay Lightning at Carolina Hurricanes NHL Picks & Predictions 4/7/2018

Saturday, April 7, 2018

PNC Arena

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Tampa Bay Lightning head to PNC Arena to take on the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday, April 7, 2018. The opening line for this contest has the Lightning at -135 and the Hurricanes at +115.

Tampa Bay has a record of 53-23-4 this year and away from home they have a record of 25-13-2-2. They are 1st in the Atlantic Division. They have tallied 287 goals and surrendered 228 goals for a point differential of +59. For the year they have an ATS mark of 53-27-0 and an over/under record of 48-30-0. Carolina has a record of 35-35-11 including 18-16-6-1 on home ice this year. They are 6th in the Metropolitan Division. They've scored 225 goals and have given up 254 for a goal differential of -29. Their record against the spread is 35-46-0 while their over/under mark is 37-42-0.

Valuable Tampa Bay Lightning Betting Trends

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 53-27-0 straight up this year

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 48-30-0 against the over/under this season

Important Carolina Hurricanes Betting Trends

The Carolina Hurricanes are 35-46-0 straight up this year

The Carolina Hurricanes are 37-42-0 against the over/under this season

Key Tampa Bay Lightning Injuries

04/05/18 C Steven Stamkos Lower Body is "?" Friday vs Buffalo
03/29/18 LW Adam Erne Lower Body is out indefinitely

Key Carolina Hurricanes Injuries

04/05/18 D Justin Faulk Upper Body is out indefinitely
03/22/18 D Brett Pesce Shoulder is out for season
03/22/18 C Victor Rask Shoulder is out for season

Player Spotlight

Nikita Kucherov has scored 98 total points this year for the Lightning. He has 38 goals this season with 275 shots on net, giving him a shooting percentage of 14%. He has a total of 60 assists on the year and averages 19.8 minutes played per contest. Brayden Point averages 19.7 minutes of ice time per game this season. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 14% by tallying 31 goals on 216 attempts. He has 34 assists, giving him a total of 65 points on the year. Andrei Vasilevskiy has 43 wins and 17 losses this season in goal for the Lightning. He has 2,043 shots against him and he's surrendered 162 goals. He's made 1,881 stops for a save percentage of 92%.

Player Spotlight

Jeff Skinner has 49 total points this season for the Hurricanes. He has 24 goals this year with 276 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 9%. He has a total of 25 assists on the year and averages 16.7 minutes played per contest. Teuvo Teravainen averages 16.9 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 13% by scoring 23 goals on 182 attempts. He has 40 assists, giving him a total of 63 points on the year. Cam Ward has 22 wins and 14 losses this season in net for the Hurricanes. He has 1,153 shots against him and he's given up 110 goals. He's made 1,043 saves for a save percentage of 91%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Lightning have 110 total points this year, which is 4th in the NHL. They've scored 287 goals while giving up 228 scores, which has them ranked 1st and 21st respectively. They have had 272 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 260 power play opportunities and surrendered 62 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 76%, ranking them 27th when short-handed. They average 33 shots per contest and as a team shoot 10.99% for the year. They allow 33 shot attempts to their opposition per game and have a team save percentage of 91%, which is 10th in the league.

Useful Team Statistics

The Hurricanes are 21st in the league with a total of 81 points this season. They have 44 power play goals on 237 chances for a percentage of 19%. That is 21st in the NHL. They've given up 190 power play opportunities and surrendered 43 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 77%, ranking 24th overall. As a team, the Hurricanes are 23rd with a total of 225 goals scored while they've given up 254 goals this season, ranking 8th in goals against. They average 34 shots per game and have a team shooting percentage of 8.22%. As a unit they give up 29 shots per contest and have a save percentage of 89%, putting them 31st overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Tampa Bay is 14th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 51.4%, as they've attempted 4,852 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 4,586 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage is 51.4% as they have 3,682 attempts while they have given up 3,488 shots on the defensive end. That ranks them 15th in the league. The Lightning start possessions in the offensive zone 53.1% of the time, which is 8th in the league, while their defensive zone percentage is at 46.9% for the season. That is 27th overall in the NHL. They have 2,381 face-off wins compared to 2,551 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 48.3%. That ranks them 29th in the league. On defense Tampa Bay has 1,685 hits and they have blocked 1,098 shots from the opposition, putting them 26th overall.

Advanced Statistics

The Hurricanes are 1st in the league in starting possessions in the offensive zone, doing so 57.6% of the time. Their defensive zone percentage is at 42.4% for the season, which is 31st in the NHL. They have 2,551 face-off wins compared to 2,173 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 54%. That is 1st in the league. On defense Carolina has 1,581 hits and they have blocked 997 shots from the opposition, which is 31st in the league. Carolina is 1st in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 55% as they've attempted 5,220 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 4,273 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage of 54.2% ranks 1st as they have 3,874 attempts while they have given up 3,276 shots on the defensive end.

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

Guy's Pick: Take Tampa Bay -135

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