Montreal Canadiens vs. Tampa Bay Lightning - 12/28/19 NHL Picks, Odds, and Prediction

Game: Montreal Canadiens vs Tampa Bay Lightning

Date: Saturday, December 28, 2019

Location: Amalie Arena in Tampa, FL

TV: SunS/CBC

Odds/Point Spread: Canadiens (+162) Lightning (-180)

Total/Over-Under: 6.5

Carey Price and the Montreal Canadiens (18-13-6, 3rd in the Atlantic Division) go to Amalie Arena on Saturday where they'll take on the Tampa Bay Lightning (18-13-4, 6th in the Atlantic Division). The moneyline on this game has the Canadiens priced at +162 and the Lightning are at -180. The O/U has been set at 6.5. The Canadiens are covering 45.7% of the time, having gone 16-19 SU. The Lightning are covering 50.0% of the time, going 17-17 straight up.

The Montreal Canadiens head into this game holding a record of 18 wins and 13 defeats, putting them at 3rd in the Atlantic Division. So far this year, they have scored a total of 119 goals which is good for 7th in the Eastern Conference and 10th in the NHL. Their goal differential is +3, putting them at 17th in the NHL. The Canadiens have compiled a total of 42 points, which is good for 16th in the NHL and 8th in the Eastern Conference. Regarding shots at the opposing goalie, they have compiled a total of 1,302 which is good for 1st in the East and 2nd in the NHL. As a group, Montreal has obtained a total of 963 hits which means they are averaging 26 per game. They have compiled a total of 450 blocks for the year. In net for Montreal is Carey Price from Farmingville, New York. He is 32 years old and has totaled 1,763 mins in goal this season. Price is allowing an average of 2.86 GAA which ranks him 16th in the East and 30th in the NHL among goalies. During this season, he's given up 84 goals. He holds a save percentage of .906 which ranks him 20th in the East.

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The Montreal Canadiens were on the right side of the scoreboard with a 6 - 2 win against the Winnipeg Jets the last time they stepped on the ice. The Canadiens played really well in this win. For this game, they scored on 6 of the 48 shots they tried. Additionally, they had 2 power play chances and netted 1 goal out of those attempts. Montreal racked up 6 penalty mins for this game. The Corsi for the Canadiens sat at 71 and the Corsi against was 39 telling us they have a Corsi percentage of 64.5%. Their Fenwick sat at 58 while the Fenwick against sat at 30, which means they had a rate of 65.9%. They earned 31 face-off wins and were beaten on 26 tries to control the puck. Their starts in the offensive zone were rated at 51.2% and they had a PDO at even strength of 107.8 for this matchup. In discussing stats from the opponent, the Winnipeg Jets put up 29 shots. They finished with 4 penalty minutes and they tallied 3 power play attempts.

The Lightning will be looking to get a victory in this matchup and for the season they sit with 18 victories and 13 defeats. With regard to goal differential, they currently sit 6th in the conference and 8th in the NHL with +12. They currently have a total of 123 goals for the season which has them at 5th in the East. Tampa Bay has a save percentage as a team of .901 which currently has them ranked 23rd in the NHL, meaning there should be some opportunities to score. They have a team shooting percentage of 10.6% which is good for 4th in the Eastern Conference. In net for Tampa Bay is Andrei Vasilevskiy who is having a marginal campaign by giving up 2.81 GAA and that ranks him 13th among Eastern Conference goalies and 24th in the NHL. In the 1,560 minutes he has been on the ice this season, he's given up 73 goals. He holds a save % of .908, which has him placed 17th among Eastern Conference goalies and 35th in the NHL.

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The Tampa Bay Lightning squared up with the Florida Panthers in an outing where the Lightning notched a win by a mark of 6 - 1. In this matchup, Tampa Bay earned a 61.7% Corsi rating. They wound up with that percentage by having a Corsi of 50 while their opponent had a Corsi of 31. Their Fenwick rate was 59.7% by earning a Fenwick of 37 and the Panthers having a 25 Fenwick. This Corsi rating tells us the kind of game Tampa Bay played and we'd say they played well overall. Their PDO at even strength was 111.1 and they'll go home having earned an oZS percentage of 69.0%. The Lightning notched 6 goals of the 34 shots on goal they took. They had 4 power play attempts in this game and scored 3 out of those attempts. As for the opposition, the Panthers had 4 power play attempts and ended up scoring 1 goal. Tampa Bay allowed 30 shots on goal and the Panthers racked up a total of 8 penalty minutes.

Who will win tonight's NHL game ATS?

Josh's Pick: Take Tampa Bay (-180)

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