Ottawa Senators vs. Tampa Bay Lightning - 12/17/19 NHL Picks, Odds, and Prediction

Game: Ottawa Senators vs Tampa Bay Lightning

Date: Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Location: Amalie Arena in Tampa, FL

TV: TSN5/SunS/RDS

Odds/Point Spread: Senators (+106) Lightning (-117)

Total/Over-Under: 6.5

Amalie Arena is the site where Andrei Vasilevskiy and the Tampa Bay Lightning (16-12-3, 5th in the Atlantic Division) will take on the Ottawa Senators (14-17-2, 7th in the Atlantic Division) on Tuesday. The odds on this contest have the Senators priced at +106 and the Lightning are at -117. The over/under opens at 6.5. The Senators are covering 42.4% of the time, having gone 14-19 SU. The Lightning are covering 50.0% of the time, going 15-15 straight up.

The Ottawa Senators come into this matchup holding a record of 14 wins and 17 losses, putting them at 7th in the Atlantic Division. So far this year, they have scored a total of 90 goals which ranks them 12th in the conference and 24th in the NHL. Their goal differential is -12, putting them at 24th in the NHL. The Senators have compiled a total of 30 points, which ranks them 28th in the NHL and 13th in the conference. With reference to shots at the opposing goalie, they have compiled a total of 997 which ranks them 13th in the Eastern Conference and 26th in the NHL. As a group, Ottawa has racked up a total of 818 hits which means they have an average of 24.8 per game. They have compiled a total of 412 blocks for the year. The man protecting the net for Ottawa is Anders Nilsson from Park Ridge, Illinois. He is 29 years old and has totaled 1,033 mins defending the goal this year. Nilsson is allowing an average of 3.02 goals per contest which has him ranking 23rd among East goalies and 45th among goalies in the NHL. During this year, he's allowed 52 goals. His save % is .913 which has him ranking 13th among East goalies.

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The Ottawa Senators went home feeling good about their game by earning a 4 - 3 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets the last time they stepped on the ice. The Senators played really well in this victory. In this game, they earned a goal on 4 out of the 27 shots they looked to score on. Furthermore, they had 3 power play attempts and scored 1 goal out of those tries. Ottawa earned 13 penalty minutes in this matchup. The Corsi for the Senators sat at 48 and the Corsi against was 59 which earned them a Corsi percentage of 44.9%. Their Fenwick sat at 34 while the Fenwick against was 50, which gave them a Fenwick percentage of 40.5%. They won 30 face-off wins at even strength and lost 22 attempts to control the puck. Their starts in the offensive zone came in at 44.6% and they had a PDO at even strength of 104.4 for this matchup. In terms of their opponent's stats, the Columbus Blue Jackets tallied 41 shots. They had a total of 11 penalty minutes and they had 4 power play opportunities.

The Lightning will be the team across the ice and for the campaign they sit with 16 wins and 12 losses. When talking about goal differential, they currently sit 6th in the Eastern Conference and 10th in the NHL with +9. They have earned a total of 109 goals for this year which is 3rd in the Eastern Conference. Tampa Bay has a team save % of .900 which currently has them sitting 22nd in the NHL, which means there should be some chances to score. They have a team shooting percentage of 10.8% ranking them 3rd in the conference. In net for Tampa Bay is Andrei Vasilevskiy who is having an ok year by giving up 2.84 goals against average and that has him ranked 16th among East goalies and 31st in the NHL among goalies. In the 1,373 mins he's been on the ice, he's surrendered 65 goals. His save % is .909, which has him placed 16th among East goalies and 33rd in the NHL among goalies.

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The Tampa Bay Lightning went up against the Washington Capitals in an outing where the Lightning ended up taking the loss by a mark of 5 - 2. In this game, Tampa Bay earned a 53.7% Corsi rating. That percentage was had by having a Corsi of 44 while their opponent had a Corsi of 38. They earned a Fenwick percentage of 46.7% by earning a Fenwick of 28 and the Capitals earning a 32 Fenwick at even strength. These Corsi stats speak to the kind of game that Tampa Bay had and the stats tell us that they didn't play well overall. Their PDO was 86.7 and they'll go home having earned an oZS percentage of 72.0%. The Lightning notched 2 goals out of the 28 shots on goal they were seeking. They had 5 power play chances in this one and were able to convert 1 out of those tries. In discussing their opponent, the Capitals had 2 power play opportunities but didn't put the puck in goal. Tampa Bay gave way to 34 shots on goal and the Capitals earned a total of 10 minutes in the box.

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

Tony's Pick: Take Ottawa (+106)

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