Tampa Bay Lightning at New Jersey Devils NHL Picks & Predictions 3/24/2018

Saturday, March 24, 2018

Prudential Center

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Tampa Bay Lightning head to Prudential Center to take on the New Jersey Devils on Saturday, March 24, 2018. The opening line for this contest has the Lightning at -170 and the Devils at +153.

Tampa Bay has a record of 51-19-4 this year and away from home they have a record of 24-11-2-2. They are 1st in the Atlantic Division. They have tallied 271 goals and surrendered 211 goals for a point differential of +60. For the year they have an ATS mark of 51-23-0 and an over/under record of 47-26-0. New Jersey has a record of 37-28-8 including 18-14-3-1 on home ice this year. They are 5th in the Metropolitan Division. They've scored 219 goals and have given up 221 for a goal differential of -2. Their record against the spread is 37-36-0 while their over/under mark is 36-35-0.

Valuable Tampa Bay Lightning Betting Trends

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 51-23-0 straight up this year

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 47-26-0 against the over/under this season

Important New Jersey Devils Betting Trends

The New Jersey Devils are 37-36-0 straight up this year

The New Jersey Devils are 36-35-0 against the over/under this season

Key Tampa Bay Lightning Injuries

03/20/18 RW Ryan Callahan Upper Body is out indefinitely

Key New Jersey Devils Injuries

03/23/18 LW Miles Wood Upper Body is downgraded to OUT Friday vs Pittsburgh
03/23/18 C Pavel Zacha Upper Body is upgraded to probable Friday vs Pittsburgh
01/25/18 LW Marcus Johansson Concussion IR (01/23)

Player Spotlight

Brayden Point has scored 61 total points this year for the Lightning. He has 28 goals this season with 197 shots on net, giving him a shooting percentage of 14%. He has a total of 33 assists on the year and averages 19.7 minutes played per contest. Nikita Kucherov averages 19.8 minutes of ice time per game this season. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 14% by tallying 37 goals on 261 attempts. He has 58 assists, giving him a total of 95 points on the year. Andrei Vasilevskiy has 42 wins and 14 losses this season in goal for the Lightning. He has 1,925 shots against him and he's surrendered 153 goals. He's made 1,772 stops for a save percentage of 92%.

Player Spotlight

Nico Hischier has 46 total points this season for the Devils. He has 16 goals this year with 161 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 10%. He has a total of 30 assists on the year and averages 16.2 minutes played per contest. Taylor Hall averages 19.2 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 13% by scoring 32 goals on 240 attempts. He has 46 assists, giving him a total of 78 points on the year. Cory Schneider has 17 wins and 15 losses this season in net for the Devils. He has 1,202 shots against him and he's given up 109 goals. He's made 1,093 saves for a save percentage of 91%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Lightning have 106 total points this year, which is 2nd in the NHL. They've scored 271 goals while giving up 211 scores, which has them ranked 1st and 19th respectively. They have had 251 power play chances and scored 61 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 24%. That is 2nd in the league. The Lightning have given up 245 power play opportunities and surrendered 59 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 11.24% for the year. They allow 33 shot attempts to their opposition per game and have a team save percentage of 91%, which is 7th in the league.

Useful Team Statistics

The Devils are 18th in the league with a total of 82 points this season. They have 46 power play goals on 228 chances for a percentage of 20%. That is 17th in the NHL. They've given up 237 power play opportunities and surrendered 43 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 82%, ranking 10th overall. As a team, the Devils are 16th with a total of 219 goals scored while they've given up 221 goals this season, ranking 16th in goals against. They average 31 shots per game and have a team shooting percentage of 9.60%. As a unit they give up 32 shots per contest and have a save percentage of 91%, putting them 18th overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Tampa Bay has a Corsi percentage of 51.4% as they've tried 4,507 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 4,270 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. That ranks them 14th in Corsi percentage. They are 13th in the NHL in Fenwick percentage with 51.2% as they have 3,405 shots while they've given up 3,242 attempts on defense. The Lightning start possessions in the offensive zone 52.6% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 47.4% for the year. That puts them 7th and 27th in the league in zone percentages respectively. They have 2,185 face-off wins as opposed to 2,383 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 47.8%. That is 29th overall in the NHL. On defense Tampa Bay has 1,539 hits and they've blocked 1,028 attempts from opposing offenses, which is 24th in the league.

Advanced Statistics

The Devils are 27th in the league in starting possessions in the offensive zone, doing so 49% of the time. Their defensive zone percentage is at 51% for the season, which is 9th in the NHL. They have 2,107 face-off wins compared to 2,366 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 47.1%. That is 30th in the league. On defense New Jersey has 1,636 hits and they have blocked 1,067 shots from the opposition, which is 19th in the league. New Jersey is 22nd in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 48.5% as they've attempted 4,064 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 4,324 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage of 49.1% ranks 20th as they have 3,147 attempts while they have given up 3,257 shots on the defensive end.

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

Guy's Pick: Take Tampa Bay -170

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 Guy Bruhn