Florida Panthers vs. Tampa Bay Lightning - 12/23/19 NHL Picks, Odds, and Prediction

Game: Florida Panthers vs Tampa Bay Lightning

Date: Monday, December 23, 2019

Location: Amalie Arena in Tampa, FL

TV: FSFL/SunS

Odds/Point Spread: Panthers (+136) Lightning (-150)

Total/Over-Under: 6.5

Sergei Bobrovsky and the Florida Panthers (18-12-5, 3rd in the Atlantic Division) are headed to Amalie Arena on Monday where they'll take on the Tampa Bay Lightning (17-13-4, 6th in the Atlantic Division). The Lightning open this matchup at -150 while the Panthers are coming in at +136. The over/under has been set at 6.5. The Panthers are covering 46.9% of the time, having gone 15-17 SU. Tampa Bay covers 48.5% of the time, going 16-17 straight up.

The Florida Panthers come into the game holding a record of 18 victories and 12 defeats, which is good for 3rd in the Atlantic Division. So far this season, they have racked up a total of 123 goals which ranks 4th in the Eastern Conference and 5th in the NHL. Their goal differential is +11, which is good for 9th in the NHL. The Panthers currently have a total of 41 points, which ranks 15th in the NHL and 8th in the Eastern Conference. In connection with shots on goal, they currently have a total of 1,168 which ranks 7th in the East and 11th in the NHL. As a team, Florida has collected a total of 582 hits which means they have an average of 16.6 per contest. They currently have a total of 428 blocks for the season. Looking after the goal for Florida is Sergei Bobrovsky from Ogdensburg, New York. He is 31 years old and has played a total of 1,571 minutes protecting the net this year. Bobrovsky is conceding an average of 3.09 goals per contest which puts him at 22nd among Eastern Conference goaltenders and 47th in the NHL among goaltenders. So far this season, he's allowed 81 goals. He holds a save percentage of .902 which puts him at 24th among Eastern Conference goaltenders.

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The Florida Panthers had a good night with a 4 - 2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes in their previous game. The Panthers had a solid offensive output in the victory. While out there on the ice, they converted 4 of the 22 shots they put on net. Moreover, they had 3 power play opportunities and were able to notch 2 goals out of those opportunities. Florida had 10 penalty mins in this game. The Corsi for the Panthers was 26 and the Corsi against was 70 telling us they have a Corsi percentage of 27.1%. Their Fenwick was 21 and the Fenwick against was 51, giving them a rate of 29.2%. They took 24 face-off wins and were beaten on 25 of all total face-offs. Their offensive zone starts were rated at 27.1% and they had a PDO of 109.9 in this game. With regard to the opposition's stats, the Carolina Hurricanes tallied 44 shots. They had a total of 10 minutes in the box and they earned a total of 3 power play attempts.

The Lightning will be looking to add points to their total and for the year they have 17 wins and 13 losses. In terms of goal differential, they are ranked 9th in the Eastern Conference and 15th in the league with +7. They currently have a total of 117 goals for the year which has them ranked at 6th in the Eastern Conference. Tampa Bay has a save percentage as a team of .899 which currently has them ranked 23rd in the league, which tells us scoring chances could be plentiful if they attack the goal. They have a shooting percentage of 10.4% putting them at 4th in the conference. In goal for Tampa Bay is Andrei Vasilevskiy who is having an ok season by giving up 2.88 goals against average and that ranks him 15th among East goalies and 29th in the NHL among goaltenders. In the 1,500 mins he's played this season, he has allowed 72 goals. He's earned a save percentage of .906, which has him ranking 17th among East goalies and 36th in the NHL among goaltenders.

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The Tampa Bay Lightning opposed the Washington Capitals in an outing where the Lightning ended up losing by a final of 3 - 1. In this outing, Tampa Bay earned a 43.5% Corsi rating. They ended up with that by earning a Corsi of 37 while the opposition earned a Corsi of 48. They had a Fenwick percentage of 43.3% by notching a Fenwick of 26 and the Capitals ending the game with a 34 Fenwick. These Corsi statistics are telling of the type of game that Tampa Bay played and we'd say it was a below average outing in all. Their PDO at even strength was 98.1 and they finished the game with an oZS percentage of 47.7%. The Lightning netted 1 goal of the 27 shots on goal they attempted. They had 7 power play attempts in this one but were not able to net one. On the other side of the ice, the Capitals had 3 power play chances but weren't able to put the puck in the net. Tampa Bay gave up 35 shots on goal and the Capitals had 14 penalty mins.

Who will win tonight's NHL game ATS?

Josh's Pick: Take Florida (+136)

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