Tampa Bay Lightning at New York Rangers NHL Picks & Predictions 3/30/2018

Friday, March 30, 2018

Madison Square Garden

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Tampa Bay Lightning head to Madison Square Garden to take on the New York Rangers on Friday, March 30, 2018. The opening line for this contest has the Lightning at -165 and the Rangers at +149.

Tampa Bay has a record of 51-21-4 this year and away from home they have a record of 24-12-2-2. They are 1st in the Atlantic Division. They have tallied 273 goals and surrendered 217 goals for a point differential of +56. For the year they have an ATS mark of 51-25-0 and an over/under record of 47-28-0. New York has a record of 33-35-9 including 21-15-4-2 on home ice this year. They are 7th in the Metropolitan Division. They've scored 223 goals and have given up 248 for a goal differential of -25. Their record against the spread is 33-44-0 while their over/under mark is 41-32-0.

Valuable Tampa Bay Lightning Betting Trends

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 51-25-0 straight up this year

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 47-28-0 against the over/under this season

Important New York Rangers Betting Trends

The New York Rangers are 33-44-0 straight up this year

The New York Rangers are 41-32-0 against the over/under this season

Key Tampa Bay Lightning Injuries

03/29/18 D Victor Hedman Undisclosed is "?" Thursday vs Boston
03/28/18 C Steven Stamkos Lower Body is upgraded to probable Thursday vs Boston
03/27/18 D Jake Dotchin Illness is "?" Thursday vs Boston
03/26/18 LW Adam Erne Lower Body left last game, is "?" Thursday vs Boston
03/20/18 RW Ryan Callahan Upper Body is out indefinitely

Key New York Rangers Injuries

03/27/18 GO Henrik Lundqvist Back will start in goal Wednesday vs Washington
03/13/18 D Tony DeAngelo Ankle is out indefinitely
02/15/18 D Steven Kampfer Hand IR (02/11)
01/19/18 D Kevin Shattenkirk Knee IR (01/18)

Player Spotlight

Nikita Kucherov has scored 96 total points this year for the Lightning. He has 38 goals this season with 267 shots on net, giving him a shooting percentage of 14%. He has a total of 58 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 28 goals on 202 attempts. He has 34 assists, giving him a total of 62 points on the year. Andrei Vasilevskiy has 42 wins and 15 losses this season in goal for the Lightning. He has 1,956 shots against him and he's surrendered 155 goals. He's made 1,801 stops for a save percentage of 92%.

Player Spotlight

Pavel Buchnevich has 42 total points this season for the Rangers. He has 14 goals this year with 129 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 11%. He has a total of 28 assists on the year and averages 15.1 minutes played per contest. Mats Zuccarello averages 18.9 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 9% by scoring 16 goals on 173 attempts. He has 35 assists, giving him a total of 51 points on the year. Henrik Lundqvist has 25 wins and 24 losses this season in net for the Rangers. He has 1,911 shots against him and he's given up 163 goals. He's made 1,748 saves for a save percentage of 92%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Lightning have 106 total points this year, which is 2nd in the NHL. They've scored 273 goals while giving up 217 scores, which has them ranked 1st and 20th respectively. They have had 255 power play chances and scored 63 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 25%. That is 2nd in the league. The Lightning have given up 250 power play opportunities and surrendered 60 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 76%, ranking them 26th when short-handed. They average 32 shots per contest and as a team shoot 11.06% 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 Rangers are 22nd in the league with a total of 75 points this season. They have 50 power play goals on 229 chances for a percentage of 22%. That is 9th in the NHL. They've given up 232 power play opportunities and surrendered 40 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 83%, ranking 5th overall. As a team, the Rangers are 18th with a total of 223 goals scored while they've given up 248 goals this season, ranking 5th in goals against. They average 31 shots per game and have a team shooting percentage of 9.25%. As a unit they give up 35 shots per contest and have a save percentage of 91%, putting them 16th overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Tampa Bay is 14th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 51.3%, as they've attempted 4,614 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 4,375 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage is 51.2% as they have 3,491 attempts while they have given up 3,325 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 7th in the league, while their defensive zone percentage is at 47.1% for the season. That is 27th overall in the NHL. They have 2,254 face-off wins compared to 2,435 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 48.1%. That ranks them 29th in the league. On defense Tampa Bay has 1,575 hits and they have blocked 1,050 shots from the opposition, putting them 27th overall.

Advanced Statistics

The Rangers are 14th in the league in starting possessions in the offensive zone, doing so 51.2% of the time. Their defensive zone percentage is at 48.8% for the season, which is 18th in the NHL. They have 2,250 face-off wins compared to 2,288 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 49.6%. That is 17th in the league. On defense New York has 1,612 hits and they have blocked 1,163 shots from the opposition, which is 10th in the league. New York is 30th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 47.1% as they've attempted 4,277 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 4,803 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage of 47.4% ranks 30th as they have 3,275 attempts while they have given up 3,640 shots on the defensive end.

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

Guy's Pick: Take Tampa Bay -165

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