Washington Capitals vs. Tampa Bay Lightning - 12/14/19 NHL Picks, Odds, and Prediction

Game: Washington Capitals vs Tampa Bay Lightning

Date: Saturday, December 14, 2019

Location: Amalie Arena in Tampa, FL

TV: SunS/NSWA

Odds/Point Spread: Capitals (+114) Lightning (-126)

Total/Over-Under: 6.5

Andrei Vasilevskiy and the Tampa Bay Lightning (16-11-3, 4th in the Atlantic Division) play the Washington Capitals (23-5-5, 1st in the Metropolitan Division) at Amalie Arena on Saturday, December 14, 2019. The Capitals open this contest at +114 while the Lightning are priced at -126. The over/under opens at 6.5. The Capitals cover 66.7% of the time, having gone 20-10 SU. The Lightning cover 51.7% of the time, going 15-14 straight up.

The Washington Capitals step onto the ice with a record of 23 victories and 5 losses, which puts them at 1st in the Metropolitan Division. Thus far in the season, they have converted a total of 117 goals which is good for 1st in the East and 1st in the NHL. Their goal differential is +24, which puts them at 3rd in the NHL. The Capitals currently have a total of 51 points, which is good for 1st in the NHL and 1st in the East. When discussing shots on goal, they currently have a total of 1,034 which is good for 7th in the Eastern Conference and 11th in the NHL. As a team, Washington has obtained a total of 616 hits which means they have an average of 18.7 per game. They currently have a total of 349 blocks for the season. Looking after the net for Washington is Braden Holtby from Lloydminster, Saskatchewan. He is 30 years old and has racked up 1,412 minutes defending the net this year. Holtby is allowing 2.80 goals against average which has him ranked 17th in the Eastern Conference and 32nd in the NHL. So far this year, he's allowed 66 goals. He's earned a save % of .911 which has him ranked 15th in the Eastern Conference.

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The Washington Capitals went home feeling good about their game by earning a 3 - 2 victory over the Boston Bruins their last time out. The Capitals offense showed they have some room for improvement in this victory. In their game, they finished 3 of the 25 shots they looked to score on. In addition, they had 3 power play opportunities and were able to score 1 goal out of those attempts. Washington racked up 17 penalty minutes in this game. The Corsi for the Capitals sat at 39 and the Corsi against was 40 which means they earned a Corsi percentage of 49.4%. Their Fenwick sat at 24 while the Fenwick against sat at 28, which earned them a rate of 46.2%. They won 13 face-off wins and were beaten on 26 of all total face-offs. Their starts in the offensive zone came in at 47.5% and they had a PDO of 105.2 in this game. With regard to the opposition's stats, the Boston Bruins put up 32 shots. They ended the game with 13 minutes in the box and they had 5 power play attempts.

The Lightning will be on the other side of the ice and for the season they have 16 wins and 11 defeats. Regarding goal differential, they rank 6th in the East and 7th in the league with +12. They have earned a total of 107 goals for the season which has them sitting at 3rd in the East. Tampa Bay has a save percentage as a team of .902 which currently has them ranked 20th in the league, meaning scoring chances could present themselves. They have a shooting percentage of 10.9% which is good for 3rd in the conference. In goal for Tampa Bay is Andrei Vasilevskiy who is having a marginal season by allowing 2.78 goals per game and that has him 16th among East goalies and 30th in the NHL among goaltenders. In the 1,315 minutes he has been on the ice this season, he's given up 61 goals. His save % is .910, which has him sitting 17th among East goalies and 33rd in the NHL among goaltenders.

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The Tampa Bay Lightning opposed the Boston Bruins in a matchup where the Lightning earned a win by a tally of 3 - 2. While out there on the ice, Tampa Bay had a 59.7% Corsi rating. They ended up with that by earning a Corsi of 43 and the team opposite of them having a Corsi of 29. Their Fenwick percentage was 61.1% by earning a Fenwick of 33 and the Bruins having earned a 21 Fenwick at even strength. These Corsi stats speak to the kind of game that Tampa Bay played and you can say they had a mediocre outing. Their PDO was 91.6 and their oZS percentage was 59.2%. The Lightning scored 3 goals out of the 31 shots on goal they tried. They had 3 power play chances in this game and scored 2 out of those opportunities. Regarding their opponent, the Bruins had 2 power play attempts but weren't able to put the puck in the net. Tampa Bay conceded 29 shots on goal and the Bruins ended up with a total of 13 penalty mins.

Who will win tonight's NHL game ATS?

Josh's Pick: Take Tampa Bay (-126)

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