Dallas Stars vs. Tampa Bay Lightning - 12/19/19 NHL Picks, Odds, and Prediction

Game: Dallas Stars vs Tampa Bay Lightning

Date: Thursday, December 19, 2019

Location: Amalie Arena in Tampa, FL

TV: FSSW/SunS

Odds/Point Spread: Stars (+158) Lightning (-175)

Total/Over-Under: 6

Ben Bishop and the Dallas Stars (19-12-4, 4th in the Central Division) travel to Amalie Arena on Thursday where they'll meet the Tampa Bay Lightning (17-12-3, 6th in the Atlantic Division). The Lightning open this matchup at -175 while the Stars are coming in at +158. The over/under has been set at 6. The Stars are covering 52.9% of the time, having gone 18-16 SU. The Lightning are covering 50.0% of the time, going 15-15 straight up.

The Dallas Stars head into this game holding a record of 19 victories and 12 losses, putting them at 4th in the Central Division. During the year thus far, they have earned a total of 90 goals which ranks 14th in the Western Conference and 27th in the NHL. Their goal differential is +10, putting them at 11th in the NHL. The Stars currently have a total of 42 pts, which ranks 11th in the NHL and 6th in the Western Conference. With regard to shots at the opposition, they currently have a total of 1,084 which ranks 8th in the West and 17th in the NHL. As a unit, Dallas currently has a total of 662 hits which means they are averaging 18.9 per game. They currently have a total of 452 blocks for this season. Protecting the net for Dallas is Ben Bishop from Denver, Colorado. He is 33 years old and has played 1,362 minutes defending the net for the season. Bishop is giving up 2.07 goals per game which has him placed 2nd in the Western Conference and 4th among goalies in the NHL. For the season, he's allowed 47 goals. He holds a save percentage of .933 which has him placed 2nd in the Western Conference.

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The Dallas Stars will be looking to get a win in their next outing after their 2 - 1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers their last time out. The Stars could have played much better offensively in the defeat. For this matchup, they converted 1 of the 35 shots they looked to score on. Moreover, they had 3 power play chances but weren't able to notch a goal in these power play chances. Dallas had 12 penalty minutes in this outing. The Corsi for the Stars sat at 58 and the Corsi against was 29 which earned them a Corsi percentage of 66.7%. Their Fenwick was 40 while the Fenwick against sat at 24, meaning they had a Fenwick percentage of 62.5%. They won 17 face-off wins and were beaten on 9 attempts to control the puck. Their offensive zone starts were rated at 65.9% and they had a PDO of 97.8 in this game. When it comes to their opponent, the Edmonton Oilers tallied 28 shots. They ended the game with 6 penalty mins and they notched 6 power play opportunities.

The Lightning are the team looking to add points to their total and for the campaign they sit with 17 wins and 12 losses. In discussing goal differential, they are sitting 6th in the Eastern Conference and 9th in the league with +10. They currently have a total of 113 goals for this season which ranks 4th in the conference. Tampa Bay has a team save percentage of .900 which has them sitting 23rd in the league, which tells us there should be some chances to score. They have a shooting percentage of 10.8% which is good for 3rd in the Eastern Conference. In net for Tampa Bay is Andrei Vasilevskiy who is having an ok year by surrendering 2.84 goals per contest and that has him ranked 16th in the Eastern Conference and 31st among goalies in the NHL. In the 1,437 minutes he has been on the ice this season, he has allowed 68 goals. He's earned a save percentage of .908, which places him at 16th in the Eastern Conference and 34th among goalies in the NHL.

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The Tampa Bay Lightning opposed the Ottawa Senators in an outing where the Lightning ended up with the victory by a score of 4 - 3. For this game, Tampa Bay went home with a 71.7% Corsi rating. They got to that percentage by earning a Corsi of 76 while their opponent had a Corsi of 30. Their Fenwick percentage came in at 67.9% with a Fenwick of 57 and the Senators finishing with a 27 Fenwick at even strength. This Corsi rating tells us the kind of game Tampa Bay had and it tells us that they played really well in this game. They had a PDO at even strength of 97.8 and their oZS percentage was 78.0%. The Lightning scored 4 goals out of the 40 shots on goal they tried. They had 1 power play opportunity in this game but weren't able to score a goal. Concerning their opponent, the Senators had 4 power play chances but didn't tally a goal. Tampa Bay conceded 28 shots on goal and the Senators ended up with 2 penalty mins.

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

Guy's Pick: Take Tampa Bay (-175)

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