Minnesota Wild vs. Tampa Bay Lightning - 12/5/19 NHL Pick, Odds, and Prediction

Game: Minnesota Wild vs Tampa Bay Lightning

Date: Thursday, December 5, 2019

Location: Amalie Arena in Tampa, FL

TV: FSN/SunS

Odds/Point Spread: Wild (+187) Lightning (-209)

Total/Over-Under: 6

Andrei Vasilevskiy and the Tampa Bay Lightning (13-9-3, 6th in the Atlantic Division) host the Minnesota Wild (13-11-4, 5th in the Central Division) at Amalie Arena on Thursday, December 5, 2019. The Wild open this game at +187 while the Lightning are coming in at -209. The over/under opens at 6. The Wild cover 44.4% of the time, having gone 12-15 SU. The Lightning cover 50.0% of the time, going 12-12 straight up.

The Minnesota Wild head into this game holding a record of 13 wins and 11 losses, putting them at 5th in the Central Division. During the season thus far, they have scored a total of 82 goals which ranks 7th in the West and 18th in the league. Their goal differential is -6, putting them at 22nd in the league. The Wild currently have a total of 30 pts, which ranks 20th in the league and 10th in the Western Conference. With reference to shots at the opposition, they currently have a total of 819 which ranks 14th in the conference and 27th in the league. As a group, Minnesota has obtained a total of 368 hits which means they have an average of 13.1 per game. They currently have a total of 292 blocks for the season. The man in goal for Minnesota is Alex Stalock from St. Paul, Minnesota. He is 32 years old and has totaled 810 minutes protecting the net for the season. Khudobin is surrendering 2.67 GAA which puts him at 10th among West goalies and 17th in the NHL among goalies. During this year, he has allowed 36 goals. He's earned a save % of .912 which puts him at 13th among West goalies.

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The Minnesota Wild were on the winning side of the scoreboard with a 4 - 2 victory over the Florida Panthers in their last contest. The Wild had a solid offensive output in this win. For this matchup, they scored on 4 of the 26 shots they tried. Furthermore, they had 1 power play opportunity but weren't able to score a goal. Minnesota ended up with 6 penalty mins in this matchup. The Corsi for the Wild was 35 and the Corsi against was 54 which tells us they had a Corsi percentage of 39.3%. Their Fenwick sat at 27 and the Fenwick against was 48, giving them a Fenwick percentage of 36.0%. They took 21 face-off wins and were beaten on 24 tries to control the puck. Their starts in the offensive zone were rated at 35.5% and they had a PDO of 115.5 for this matchup. When it comes to their opponent, the Florida Panthers tallied a total of 46 shots. Their total at the end of the game was 2 penalty minutes and they earned 3 power play opportunities.

The Lightning will be looking to get a victory in this matchup and for the campaign they have 13 wins and 9 losses. In the matter of goal differential, they are ranked 6th in the Eastern Conference and 9th in the league with +9. They have earned a total of 90 goals for this year which is good for 7th in the East. Tampa Bay has a save % as a team of .902 which currently has them ranked 20th in the league, meaning scoring chances could be there if they are opportunistic. They are shooting 11.3% ranking them 3rd in the East. In net for Tampa Bay is Andrei Vasilevskiy who is having a bad campaign by giving up 2.90 GAA and that places him 14th among East goalies and 34th in the NHL. In the 1,077 minutes he's played, he has allowed 52 goals. He's earned a save percentage of .908, which ranks him 13th among East goalies and 31st in the NHL.

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The Tampa Bay Lightning opposed the Nashville Predators in a game where the Lightning notched a victory by a final score of 3 - 2. In this outing, Tampa Bay had a 53.2% Corsi rating. They earned that percentage by having a Corsi of 33 and their opponent having a Corsi of 29. Their Fenwick percentage was 53.1% with a Fenwick of 26 and the Predators earning a 23 Fenwick at even strength. These Corsi stats tell us the story of the kind of game Tampa Bay played and it tells us they had an average game overall. They had a PDO of 116.7 and they finished this one with an oZS percentage of 58.9%. The Lightning notched 3 goals of the 31 shots on goal they were seeking. They had 3 power play opportunities in this outing but weren't able to put one in the back of the net. Regarding the opposition, the Predators had 4 power play chances and were able to tally 1 goal. Tampa Bay gave up 32 shots on goal and the Predators racked up 26 minutes in the box.

Who will win tonight's NHL game ATS?

Josh's Pick: Take Minnesota (+187)

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