Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Buffalo Sabres - 12/31/19 NHL Picks, Odds, and Prediction

Game: Tampa Bay Lightning vs Buffalo Sabres

Date: Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Location: KeyBank Center in Buffalo, NY

TV: MSGB/SunS

Odds/Point Spread: Lightning (-150) Sabres (+136)

Total/Over-Under: 6.5

KeyBank Center is the venue where Linus Ullmark and the Buffalo Sabres (17-16-7, 6th in the Atlantic Division) will take on the Tampa Bay Lightning (20-13-4, 4th in the Atlantic Division) on Tuesday. The Sabres open this contest at +136 while the Lightning are coming in at -150. The total has been set at 6.5. The Lightning cover 52.8% of the time, having gone 19-17 SU. The Sabres cover 41.0% of the time, going 16-23 straight up.

The Tampa Bay Lightning step onto the ice with a record of 20 wins and 13 losses, which puts them at 4th in the Atlantic Division. So far this season, they have racked up a total of 130 goals which is good for 6th in the conference and 8th in the league. Their goal differential is +14, which puts them at 7th in the league. The Lightning have a total of 44 pts, which is good for 17th in the league and 9th in the East. When discussing shots at the opposing goalie, they have a total of 1,227 which is good for 10th in the Eastern Conference and 18th in the league. As a unit, Tampa Bay has compiled a total of 813 hits which means they have an average of 22 per contest. They have a total of 366 blocks for the year. The man protecting the net for Tampa Bay is Andrei Vasilevskiy from London, Ontario. He is 25 years old and has totaled 1,620 minutes in goal this year. Vasilevskiy is allowing 2.85 goals against average which ranks him 14th among East goaltenders and 29th in the NHL among goalies. For the year, he's surrendered 77 goals. He has a save % of .908 which ranks him 15th among East goaltenders.

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The Tampa Bay Lightning will head into their next game feeling good after earning a 2 - 1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings their last time out. The Lightning had an offensive game that was below their expectations in the win. For this game, they scored on 2 of the 39 shots they tried. They also had 4 power play attempts and were able to score 1 goal out of those tries. Tampa Bay racked up 4 penalty minutes while out there on the ice. The Corsi for the Lightning was 52 and the Corsi against was 24 telling us they have a Corsi percentage of 68.4%. Their Fenwick sat at 32 and the Fenwick against was 20, which means they had a Fenwick percentage of 61.5%. They won 23 face-off wins and lost 20 tries to control the puck. The offensive zone starts for them were rated at 78.8% and they had a PDO at even strength of 98.3 for this one. With regard to the opposition's stats, the Detroit Red Wings racked up a total of 20 shots. They had a total of 8 penalty minutes and they notched 2 power play attempts.

The Sabres will be the team across the ice and for the campaign they have 17 victories and 16 defeats. Regarding goal differential, they are ranked 12th in the Eastern Conference and 20th in the league with -8. They have a total of 116 goals for this year which ranks them 11th in the East. Buffalo has a save % as a team of .902 which has them 20th in the league, which means scoring chances could be there if they are opportunistic. They have a team shooting percentage of 9.5% putting them at 11th in the conference. In net for Buffalo is Linus Ullmark who is having a marginal season by surrendering 2.80 goals per game and that has him 13th in the Eastern Conference and 26th in the NHL among goaltenders. In the 1,434 mins he's been on the ice this season, he has surrendered 67 goals. He has a save percentage of .913, which has him sitting 12th in the Eastern Conference and 26th in the NHL among goaltenders.

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The Buffalo Sabres faced off against the Boston Bruins in an outing where the Sabres ended up losing by a tally of 3 - 2. For this game, Buffalo wound up with a 55.9% Corsi rating. That percentage was had by having a Corsi of 38 while their opponent earned a Corsi of 30. Their Fenwick percentage came in at 55.8% by earning a Fenwick of 29 and the Bruins earning a 23 Fenwick at even strength. This Corsi rating is telling of the kind of game that Buffalo played and you could say that they have had better days on the ice. Their PDO at even strength was 102.9 and they finished this one with an oZS percentage of 52.4%. The Sabres notched 2 goals of the 26 shots on goal they were seeking. They had 3 power play chances in this outing but weren't able to score a goal. Regarding the opposition, the Bruins had 6 power play opportunities and were able to tally 2 goals. Buffalo gave way to 22 shots on goal and the Bruins ended up with a total of 6 penalty minutes.

Who will win tonight's NHL game ATS?

Guy's Pick: Take Buffalo (+136)

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