Tampa Bay Lightning at New York Rangers Expert NHL Picks 2/2/2019

Saturday, February 2, 2019

Madison Square Garden

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Tampa Bay Lightning head to Madison Square Garden to take on the New York Rangers on Saturday, February 2, 2019. The opening line for this contest has the Lightning at -200 and the Rangers at +150.

Tampa Bay has a record of 37-11-2 this year. They are 1st in the Atlantic Division. They've tallied 201 goals and surrendered 144 goals for a point differential of +57. For the year they have an ATS mark of 37-13-0 and an over/under record of 27-21-0. New York has a record of 22-21-7 this season. They are 6th in the Metropolitan Division. They have scored 143 goals and given up 168 for a goal differential of -25. Their record against the spread is 22-28-0 while their over/under mark is 26-23-0.

Valuable Tampa Bay Lightning Betting Trends

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 37-13-0 straight up this year

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 27-21-0 against the over/under this season

Important New York Rangers Betting Trends

The New York Rangers are 22-28-0 straight up this year

The New York Rangers are 26-23-0 against the over/under this season

Key Tampa Bay Lightning Injuries

No key injuries to report

Key New York Rangers Injuries

01/31/19 C Brett Howden Knee IR (01/31)
01/15/19 D Fredrik Claesson Shoulder is out indefinitely

Player Spotlight

Brayden Point has scored 65 total points this year for the Lightning. He has 30 goals this season with 130 shots on net, giving him a shooting percentage of 23%. He has a total of 35 assists on the year and averages 18.6 minutes played per contest. Nikita Kucherov averages 19.4 minutes of ice time per game this season. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 16% by tallying 22 goals on 139 attempts. He has 57 assists, giving him a total of 79 points on the year. Andrei Vasilevskiy has 20 wins and 7 losses this season in goal for the Lightning. He has 950 shots against him and he's surrendered 74 goals. He's made 876 stops for a save percentage of 92%.

Player Spotlight

Mika Zibanejad has 48 total points this season for the Rangers. He has 20 goals this year with 146 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 14%. He has a total of 28 assists on the year and averages 19.9 minutes played per contest. Chris Kreider averages 17.1 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 16% by scoring 23 goals on 140 attempts. He has 15 assists, giving him a total of 38 points on the year. Henrik Lundqvist has 16 wins and 12 losses this season in net for the Rangers. He has 1,157 shots against him and he's given up 107 goals. He's made 1,050 saves for a save percentage of 91%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Lightning have 76 total points this year, which is 1st in the NHL. They've scored 201 goals while giving up 144 scores, which has them ranked 1st and 22nd respectively. They have had 168 power play chances and scored 50 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 30%. That is 1st in the league. The Lightning have given up 161 power play opportunities and surrendered 26 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 84%, ranking them 3rd when short-handed. They average 33 shots per contest and as a team shoot 12.23% for the year. They allow 32 shot attempts to their opposition per game and have a team save percentage of 91%, which is 8th in the league.

Useful Team Statistics

The Rangers are 20th in the league with a total of 51 points this season. They have 30 power play goals on 142 chances for a percentage of 21%. That is 11th in the NHL. They've given up 171 power play opportunities and surrendered 40 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 77%, ranking 27th overall. As a team, the Rangers are 24th with a total of 143 goals scored while they've given up 168 goals this season, ranking 7th in goals against. They average 28 shots per game and have a team shooting percentage of 10.16%. As a unit they give up 33 shots per contest and have a save percentage of 90%, putting them 20th overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Tampa Bay is 11th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 50.8%, as they've attempted 2,959 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 2,865 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage is 51% as they have 2,254 attempts while they have given up 2,164 shots on the defensive end. That ranks them 12th in the league. The Lightning start possessions in the offensive zone 50.5% of the time, which is 17th in the league, while their defensive zone percentage is at 49.5% for the season. That is 15th overall in the NHL. They have 1,527 face-off wins compared to 1,492 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 50.6%. That ranks them 11th in the league. On defense Tampa Bay has 1,250 hits and they have blocked 701 shots from the opposition, putting them 20th overall.

Advanced Statistics

The Rangers are 26th 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 1,363 face-off wins compared to 1,517 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 47.3%. That is 30th in the league. On defense New York has 1,299 hits and they have blocked 773 shots from the opposition, which is 7th in the league. New York is 29th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 45.8% as they've attempted 2,572 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 3,048 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage of 45.8% ranks 29th as they have 1,923 attempts while they have given up 2,275 shots on the defensive end.

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

Josh's Pick: Take Tampa Bay -200

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