Tampa Bay Lightning at Montreal Canadiens NHL Picks & Predictions 1/4/2018

Thursday, January 4, 2018

Bell Centre

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Tampa Bay Lightning travel to Bell Centre to play the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday, January 4, 2018. The opening line for this game has the Lightning at -170 and the Canadiens at +153.

Tampa Bay has a record of 29-8-2 this season and on the road they have a record of 13-5-1-1. They are 1st in the Atlantic Division. They've scored 146 goals and given up 93 goals for a point differential of +53. For the season they have an ATS record of 29-10-0 and an over/under record of 22-17-0. Montreal has a record of 16-20-4 including 9-8-3-0 at home this season. They are 6th in the Atlantic Division. They've scored 101 goals and surrendered 126 for a goal differential of -25. Their record against the spread is 16-24-0 while their over/under record is 16-22-0.

Valuable Tampa Bay Lightning Betting Trends

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 29-10-0 straight up this year

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 22-17-0 against the over/under this season

Important Montreal Canadiens Betting Trends

The Montreal Canadiens are 16-24-0 straight up this year

The Montreal Canadiens are 16-22-0 against the over/under this season

Key Tampa Bay Lightning Injuries

12/30/17 GO Peter Budaj Leg IR (12/29)
12/15/17 RW Ryan Callahan Shoulder IR (12/14)

Key Montreal Canadiens Injuries

12/18/17 D Shea Weber Foot IR (12/17)
11/12/17 GO Al Montoya Concussion IR (11/09)
10/22/17 RW Ales Hemsky Concussion IR (10/20)

Player Spotlight

Andrei Vasilevskiy has 26 wins and 5 losses this season in net for the Lightning. He has 1,004 shots against him and he's given up 63 goals. He's made 941 saves for a save percentage of 94%. Nikita Kucherov has accumulated 56 total points this season for the Lightning. He has 25 goals this year with 142 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 18%. He has a total of 31 assists on the season and averages 20.7 minutes played per game. Brayden Point averages 19.2 minutes of ice time per game this year. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 17% by scoring 16 goals on 92 shots. He has 20 assists, giving him a total of 36 points on the season.

Player Spotlight

Brendan Gallagher has scored 21 total points this year for the Canadiens. He has 15 goals this season with 122 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 12%. He has a total of 6 assists on the season and averages 15.2 minutes played per game. Carey Price has 11 wins and 14 losses this year in goal for the Canadiens. He has 820 shots against him and he's surrendered 77 goals. He's made 743 saves for a save percentage of 91%. Max Pacioretty averages 19.2 minutes of ice time per game. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 5% by scoring 8 goals on 154 shots. He has 13 assists, giving him a total of 21 points on the season.

Useful Team Statistics

The Lightning have allowed 131 power play opportunities and have given up 27 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 79% this year. That is 23rd in the NHL. They average 33 shots per game and as a team shoot 11.44% for the season. They allow 31 shots to their opposition per contest and have a team save percentage of 93%, which is ranked 2nd in the league. The Lightning has 60 total points this season, ranking 1st in the NHL in offense. They are 1st in the league with 146 goals while they've given up 93 goals, which is 30th overall. They have had 147 power play opportunities and scored 37 goals on those chances for a percentage of 25%. That is 2nd in the NHL.

Useful Team Statistics

As a team, the Canadiens are 28th with 101 goals scored while they are 9th in the NHL with 126 goals allowed this year. They average 34 shots per contest and have a team shooting percentage of 7.51%. They give up 32 shots per game and have a save percentage of 90%, putting them in 23rd place in the league. The Canadiens have a total of 36 points this year, which is 28th in the NHL. They have 23 power play goals on 120 opportunities for a percentage of 19%. That ranks their power play unit 15th. They've allowed 134 power play opportunities and have given up 30 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 78%, which is 26th overall.

Advanced Statistics

Tampa Bay has a Corsi percentage of 52.8% as they've tried 2,425 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 2,171 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. That ranks them 5th in Corsi percentage. They are 9th in the NHL in Fenwick percentage with 52.4% as they have 1,821 shots while they've given up 1,656 attempts on defense. The Lightning start possessions in the offensive zone 54.3% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 45.7% for the year. That puts them 7th and 29th in the league in zone percentages respectively. They have 1,132 face-off wins as opposed to 1,287 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 46.8%. That is 30th overall in the NHL. On defense Tampa Bay has 737 hits and they've blocked 515 attempts from opposing offenses, which is 28th in the league.

Advanced Statistics

The Canadiens are 11th in the league in starting possessions in the offensive zone, doing so 52.4% of the time. Their defensive zone percentage is at 47.6% for the season, which is 23rd in the NHL. They have 1,233 face-off wins compared to 1,274 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 49.2%. That is 24th in the league. On defense Montreal has 972 hits and they have blocked 649 shots from the opposition, which is 1st in the league. Montreal is 11th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 50.5% as they've attempted 2,467 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 2,418 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage of 50.5% ranks 13th as they have 1,808 attempts while they have given up 1,769 shots on the defensive end.

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

Tony's Pick: Take Montreal +153

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