Tampa Bay Lightning at Chicago Blackhawks NHL Picks & Predictions 10/21/2018

Sunday, October 21, 2018

United Center

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Tampa Bay Lightning head to United Center to take on the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday, October 21, 2018. The opening line for this contest has the Lightning at +104 and the Blackhawks at -115.

Tampa Bay has a record of 4-1-0 this year. They are 4th in the Atlantic Division. They've tallied 18 goals and surrendered 10 goals for a point differential of +8. For the year they have an ATS mark of 4-1-0 and an over/under record of 1-4-0. Chicago has a record of 3-1-2 this season. They are 4th in the Central Division. They have scored 23 goals and given up 25 for a goal differential of -2. Their record against the spread is 3-3-0 while their over/under mark is 5-1-0.

Valuable Tampa Bay Lightning Betting Trends

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 4-1-0 straight up this year

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 1-4-0 against the over/under this season

Important Chicago Blackhawks Betting Trends

The Chicago Blackhawks are 3-3-0 straight up this year

The Chicago Blackhawks are 5-1-0 against the over/under this season

Key Tampa Bay Lightning Injuries

No key injuries to report

Key Chicago Blackhawks Injuries

10/04/18 D Connor Murphy Back is out indefinitely
10/01/18 D Gustav Forsling Wrist is out indefinitely

Player Spotlight

Brayden Point has scored 5 total points this year for the Lightning. He has 4 goals this season with 12 shots on net, giving him a shooting percentage of 33%. He has a total of 1 assist on the year and averages 17.6 minutes played per contest. Yanni Gourde averages 17 minutes of ice time per game this season. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 25% by tallying 2 goals on 8 attempts. He has 3 assists, giving him a total of 5 points on the year. Andrei Vasilevskiy has 3 wins and 1 loss this season in goal for the Lightning. He has 131 shots against him and he's surrendered 6 goals. He's made 125 stops for a save percentage of 95%.

Player Spotlight

Jonathan Toews has 10 total points this season for the Blackhawks. He has 5 goals this year with 21 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 24%. He has a total of 5 assists on the year and averages 19.8 minutes played per contest. Patrick Kane averages 22.5 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 15% by scoring 5 goals on 34 attempts. He has 3 assists, giving him a total of 8 points on the year. Cam Ward has 3 wins and no losses this season in net for the Blackhawks. He has 173 shots against him and he's given up 21 goals. He's made 152 saves for a save percentage of 88%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Lightning have 8 total points this year, which is 9th in the NHL. They've scored 18 goals while giving up 10 scores, which has them ranked 21st and 30th respectively. They have had 20 power play chances and scored 5 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 25%. That is 12th in the league. The Lightning have given up 23 power play opportunities and surrendered no goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 100%, ranking them 1st when short-handed. They average 30 shots per contest and as a team shoot 11.84% for the year. They allow 35 shot attempts to their opposition per game and have a team save percentage of 94%, which is 2nd in the league.

Useful Team Statistics

The Blackhawks are 15th in the league with a total of 8 points this season. They have 2 power play goals on 20 chances for a percentage of 10%. That is 28th in the NHL. They've given up 17 power play opportunities and surrendered 6 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 65%, ranking 30th overall. As a team, the Blackhawks are 10th with a total of 23 goals scored while they've given up 25 goals this season, ranking 5th in goals against. They average 36 shots per game and have a team shooting percentage of 10.55%. As a unit they give up 34 shots per contest and have a save percentage of 88%, putting them 27th overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Tampa Bay is 14th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 50.5%, as they've attempted 299 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 293 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage is 49% as they have 215 attempts while they have given up 224 shots on the defensive end. That ranks them 17th in the league. The Lightning start possessions in the offensive zone 47% of the time, which is 23rd in the league, while their defensive zone percentage is at 53% for the season. That is 9th overall in the NHL. They have 151 face-off wins compared to 157 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 49%. That ranks them 23rd in the league. On defense Tampa Bay has 123 hits and they have blocked 69 shots from the opposition, putting them 28th overall.

Advanced Statistics

The Blackhawks are 11th in the league in starting possessions in the offensive zone, doing so 53.1% of the time. Their defensive zone percentage is at 46.9% for the season, which is 21st in the NHL. They have 197 face-off wins compared to 204 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 49.1%. That is 22nd in the league. On defense Chicago has 92 hits and they have blocked 83 shots from the opposition, which is 22nd in the league. Chicago is 7th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 53.6% as they've attempted 407 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 352 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage of 52.1% ranks 10th as they have 293 attempts while they have given up 269 shots on the defensive end.

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

Josh's Pick: Take Tampa Bay +104

Get $60 worth of FREE premium member picks. No Obligation. No Salesman. No Credit Card. Fast Sign up with Instant Access Click Here

Read more articles by Josh Schonwald