New York Islanders vs. Tampa Bay Lightning - 12/9/19 NHL Pick, Odds, and Prediction

Game: New York Islanders vs Tampa Bay Lightning

Date: Monday, December 9, 2019

Location: Amalie Arena in Tampa, FL

TV: MSG+/SunS

Odds/Point Spread: Islanders (+153) Lightning (-170)

Total/Over-Under: 6

Amalie Arena is the venue where Andrei Vasilevskiy and the Tampa Bay Lightning (14-10-3, 6th in the Atlantic Division) will take on the New York Islanders (19-7-2, 2nd in the Metropolitan Division) on Monday. The Islanders open this matchup at +153 while the Lightning are priced at -170. The over/under is set at 6. The Islanders cover 65.4% of the time, having gone 17-9 SU. Tampa Bay covers 50.0% of the time, going 13-13 straight up.

The New York Islanders step onto the ice with a record of 19 victories and 7 defeats, which is good for 2nd in the Metropolitan Division. Thus far in the season, they have scored a total of 79 goals which has them sitting at 13th in the conference and 24th in the NHL. Their goal differential is +11, which is good for 9th in the NHL. The Islanders have compiled a total of 40 points, which has them sitting at 4th in the NHL and 3rd in the conference. When looking at shots at the opposing goalie, they have compiled a total of 794 which has them sitting at 16th in the East and 31st in the NHL. As a unit, New York has earned a total of 667 hits which means they are averaging 23.8 per contest. They have compiled a total of 379 blocks for the year. The man in the crease for New York is Semyon Varlamov from Kuybyshev, USSR. He is 31 years old and has played a total of 869 minutes in net for the campaign. Varlamov is surrendering an average of 2.35 goals per contest which ranks him 5th among Eastern Conference goalies and 10th in the NHL among goaltenders. For the season, he has given up 34 goals. He holds a save % of .923 which ranks him 5th among Eastern Conference goalies.

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The New York Islanders will need a bounce back game after taking a 3 - 1 loss to the Dallas Stars in their previous game. The Islanders left a lot to be desired in terms of their offense in this loss. In this game, they scored on 1 of the 35 shots they tried. Moreover, they had 1 power play attempt but weren't able to score a goal. New York racked up 4 penalty mins for this outing. The Corsi for the Islanders sat at 40 and the Corsi against at even strength was 52 giving them a Corsi percentage of 43.5%. Their Fenwick was 32 and the Fenwick against sat at 39, which means they earned a rate of 45.1%. They won 20 face-off wins and lost 25 tries to control the puck. The offensive zone starts for them were rated at 44.9% and they had a PDO of 100.6 for this matchup. Concerning opponent stats, the Dallas Stars put up 37 shots. They finished with a total of 2 minutes in the box and they tallied 2 power play opportunities.

The Lightning will be the team across the ice and for the campaign they have 14 wins and 10 losses. In connection with goal differential, they sit 4th in the conference and 5th in the NHL with +14. They currently have a total of 101 goals for the year which puts them at 4th in the East. Tampa Bay has a team save percentage of .902 which is good for 20th in the NHL, which tells us there should be some chances to score. They have a team shooting percentage of 11.6% putting them at 1st in the Eastern Conference. In goal for Tampa Bay is Andrei Vasilevskiy who is having a tough season by allowing 2.91 goals per game and that ranks him 14th in the Eastern Conference and 31st in the NHL among goaltenders. In the 1,195 mins he's played this season, he has given up 58 goals. His save % is .907, which has him placed 15th in the Eastern Conference and 32nd in the NHL among goaltenders.

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The Tampa Bay Lightning went up against the San Jose Sharks in a matchup where the Lightning notched a victory by a final of 7 - 1. For this matchup, Tampa Bay went home with a 44.4% Corsi rating. They earned that percentage by having a Corsi of 36 while their opponent earned a Corsi of 45. They had a Fenwick percentage of 47.8% with a Fenwick of 32 and the Sharks finishing with a 35 Fenwick. These Corsi stats speak to the kind of game that Tampa Bay played and they showed up in this game. Their PDO at even strength was 116.8 and they'll go home having earned an oZS percentage of 53.8%. The Lightning notched 7 goals out of the 38 shots on goal they attempted. They had 4 power play opportunities in this one and scored 2 out of those chances. On the other side of the ice, the Sharks had 4 power play opportunities but didn't tally a goal. Tampa Bay allowed 38 shots on goal and the Sharks had 8 penalty mins.

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

Josh's Pick: Take New York (+153)

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