Tampa Bay Lightning at Montreal Canadiens Expert NHL Picks 4/2/2019

Tuesday, April 2, 2019

Bell Centre

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Tampa Bay Lightning head to Bell Centre to take on the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday, April 2, 2019. The opening line for this contest has the Lightning at -139 and the Canadiens at +108.

Tampa Bay has a record of 59-15-4 this year. They are 1st in the Atlantic Division. They've tallied 303 goals and surrendered 211 goals for a point differential of +92. For the year they have an ATS mark of 59-19-0 and an over/under record of 42-33-0. Montreal has a record of 42-29-8 this season. They are 4th in the Atlantic Division. They have scored 236 goals and given up 227 for a goal differential of +9. Their record against the spread is 42-37-0 while their over/under mark is 33-42-0.

Valuable Tampa Bay Lightning Betting Trends

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 59-19-0 straight up this year

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 42-33-0 against the over/under this season

Important Montreal Canadiens Betting Trends

The Montreal Canadiens are 42-37-0 straight up this year

The Montreal Canadiens are 33-42-0 against the over/under this season

Key Tampa Bay Lightning Injuries

03/31/19 D Erik Cernak Upper Body left last game, is questionable Monday vs Ottawa
03/30/19 D Anton Stralman Lower Body is questionable Monday vs Ottawa
03/30/19 D Victor Hedman Upper Body left last game, is questionable Monday vs Ottawa
03/20/19 D Dan Girardi Lower Body is out indefinitely

Key Montreal Canadiens Injuries

03/29/19 LW Paul Byron Facial is questionable Tuesday vs Tampa Bay

Player Spotlight

Brayden Point has scored 90 total points this year for the Lightning. He has 40 goals this season with 186 shots on net, giving him a shooting percentage of 22%. He has a total of 50 assists on the year and averages 18.9 minutes played per contest. Nikita Kucherov averages 20 minutes of ice time per game this season. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 16% by tallying 39 goals on 240 attempts. He has 83 assists, giving him a total of 122 points on the year. Andrei Vasilevskiy has 37 wins and 10 losses this season in goal for the Lightning. He has 1,659 shots against him and he's surrendered 125 goals. He's made 1,534 stops for a save percentage of 93%.

Player Spotlight

Tomas Tatar has 57 total points this season for the Canadiens. He has 25 goals this year with 191 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 13%. He has a total of 32 assists on the year and averages 16.4 minutes played per contest. Max Domi averages 17.4 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 14% by scoring 27 goals on 188 attempts. He has 43 assists, giving him a total of 70 points on the year. Carey Price has 34 wins and 23 losses this season in net for the Canadiens. He has 1,897 shots against him and he's given up 157 goals. He's made 1,740 saves for a save percentage of 92%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Lightning have 122 total points this year, which is 1st in the NHL. They've scored 303 goals while giving up 211 scores, which has them ranked 1st and 26th respectively. They have had 256 power play chances and scored 73 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 29%. That is 1st in the league. The Lightning have given up 257 power play opportunities and surrendered 39 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 85%, ranking them 3rd when short-handed. They average 32 shots per contest and as a team shoot 12.03% for the year. They allow 32 shot attempts to their opposition per game and have a team save percentage of 92%, which is 3rd in the league.

Useful Team Statistics

The Canadiens are 13th in the league with a total of 92 points this season. They have 29 power play goals on 230 chances for a percentage of 13%. That is 31st in the NHL. They've given up 239 power play opportunities and surrendered 46 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 81%, ranking 12th overall. As a team, the Canadiens are 14th with a total of 236 goals scored while they've given up 227 goals this season, ranking 19th in goals against. They average 34 shots per game and have a team shooting percentage of 8.85%. As a unit they give up 31 shots per contest and have a save percentage of 91%, putting them 11th overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Tampa Bay is 11th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 50.6%, as they've attempted 4,526 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 4,416 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage is 50.8% as they have 3,462 attempts while they have given up 3,347 shots on the defensive end. That ranks them 12th in the league. The Lightning start possessions in the offensive zone 50.3% of the time, which is 19th in the league, while their defensive zone percentage is at 49.7% for the season. That is 13th overall in the NHL. They have 2,420 face-off wins compared to 2,304 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 51.2%. That ranks them 8th in the league. On defense Tampa Bay has 1,981 hits and they have blocked 1,069 shots from the opposition, putting them 21st overall.

Advanced Statistics

The Canadiens are 9th in the league in starting possessions in the offensive zone, doing so 52.1% of the time. Their defensive zone percentage is at 47.9% for the season, which is 23rd in the NHL. They have 2,332 face-off wins compared to 2,414 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 49.1%. That is 24th in the league. On defense Montreal has 2,118 hits and they have blocked 1,126 shots from the opposition, which is 15th in the league. Montreal is 5th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 52.9% as they've attempted 5,001 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 4,447 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage of 52.3% ranks 6th as they have 3,648 attempts while they have given up 3,321 shots on the defensive end.

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

Josh's Pick: Take Tampa Bay -139

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