Tampa Bay Lightning at Los Angeles Kings NHL Picks & Predictions 1/3/2019

Thursday, January 3, 2019

Staples Center

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Tampa Bay Lightning head to Staples Center to take on the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday, January 3, 2019. The opening line for this contest has the Lightning at -215 and the Kings at +175.

Tampa Bay has a record of 31-7-2 this year. They are 1st in the Atlantic Division. They've tallied 168 goals and surrendered 117 goals for a point differential of +51. For the year they have an ATS mark of 31-9-0 and an over/under record of 23-15-0. Los Angeles has a record of 16-22-3 this season. They are 8th in the Pacific Division. They have scored 92 goals and given up 121 for a goal differential of -29. Their record against the spread is 16-24-0 while their over/under mark is 16-23-0.

Valuable Tampa Bay Lightning Betting Trends

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 31-9-0 straight up this year

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 23-15-0 against the over/under this season

Important Los Angeles Kings Betting Trends

The Los Angeles Kings are 16-24-0 straight up this year

The Los Angeles Kings are 16-23-0 against the over/under this season

Key Tampa Bay Lightning Injuries

12/29/18 C J.T. Miller Upper Body is out indefinitely
12/18/18 RW Mathieu Joseph Lower Body IR (12/18)

Key Los Angeles Kings Injuries

12/22/18 D Alec Martinez Undisclosed IR (12/22)
12/15/18 D Dion Phaneuf Upper Body is out indefinitely
11/26/18 LW Carl Hagelin Lower Body is out indefinitely
11/17/18 C Trevor Lewis Foot is out indefinitely
10/03/18 RW Jonny Brodzinski Shoulder IR (10/03)

Player Spotlight

Nikita Kucherov has scored 65 total points this year for the Lightning. He has 19 goals this season with 113 shots on net, giving him a shooting percentage of 17%. He has a total of 46 assists on the year and averages 19 minutes played per contest. Brayden Point averages 18.4 minutes of ice time per game this season. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 22% by tallying 23 goals on 106 attempts. He has 29 assists, giving him a total of 52 points on the year. Andrei Vasilevskiy has 15 wins and 3 losses this season in goal for the Lightning. He has 676 shots against him and he's surrendered 52 goals. He's made 624 stops for a save percentage of 92%.

Player Spotlight

Anze Kopitar has 27 total points this season for the Kings. He has 9 goals this year with 86 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 11%. He has a total of 18 assists on the year and averages 22.7 minutes played per contest. Dustin Brown averages 21 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 13% by scoring 11 goals on 88 attempts. He has 11 assists, giving him a total of 22 points on the year. Jonathan Quick has 6 wins and 9 losses this season in net for the Kings. He has 501 shots against him and he's given up 48 goals. He's made 453 saves for a save percentage of 90%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Lightning have 64 total points this year, which is 1st in the NHL. They've scored 168 goals while giving up 117 scores, which has them ranked 1st and 17th respectively. They have had 137 power play chances and scored 40 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 29%. That is 1st in the league. The Lightning have given up 129 power play opportunities and surrendered 22 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 83%, ranking them 8th when short-handed. They average 34 shots per contest and as a team shoot 12.44% for the year. They allow 32 shot attempts to their opposition per game and have a team save percentage of 91%, which is 10th in the league.

Useful Team Statistics

The Kings are 29th in the league with a total of 35 points this season. They have 17 power play goals on 113 chances for a percentage of 15%. That is 25th in the NHL. They've given up 120 power play opportunities and surrendered 29 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 76%, ranking 28th overall. As a team, the Kings are 31st with a total of 92 goals scored while they've given up 121 goals this season, ranking 14th in goals against. They average 28 shots per game and have a team shooting percentage of 7.90%. As a unit they give up 32 shots per contest and have a save percentage of 91%, putting them 13th overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Tampa Bay is 10th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 51.2%, as they've attempted 2,405 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 2,292 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage is 51.3% as they have 1,832 attempts while they have given up 1,738 shots on the defensive end. That ranks them 11th in the league. The Lightning start possessions in the offensive zone 50.6% of the time, which is 16th in the league, while their defensive zone percentage is at 49.4% for the season. That is 16th overall in the NHL. They have 1,225 face-off wins compared to 1,211 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 50.3%. That ranks them 14th in the league. On defense Tampa Bay has 974 hits and they have blocked 554 shots from the opposition, putting them 18th overall.

Advanced Statistics

The Kings are 24th in the league in starting possessions in the offensive zone, doing so 48.1% of the time. Their defensive zone percentage is at 51.9% for the season, which is 8th in the NHL. They have 1,257 face-off wins compared to 1,224 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 50.7%. That is 12th in the league. On defense Los Angeles has 930 hits and they have blocked 602 shots from the opposition, which is 7th in the league. Los Angeles is 24th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 48.1% as they've attempted 2,235 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 2,410 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage of 47.9% ranks 23rd as they have 1,659 attempts while they have given up 1,808 shots on the defensive end.

Who will win tonight's Lightning/Kings NHL game against the spread?

Josh's Pick: Take Tampa Bay -215

Get $60 worth of FREE premium member picks. No Obligation. No Salesman. No Credit Card. Fast Sign up with Instant Access Click Here

Read more articles by Josh Schonwald