Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Carolina Hurricanes - 1/5/20 NHL Picks, Odds, and Prediction

Game: Tampa Bay Lightning vs Carolina Hurricanes

Date: Sunday, January 5, 2020

Location: PNC Arena in Raleigh, NC

TV: SunS

Odds/Point Spread: Lightning (+100) Hurricanes (-120)

Total/Over-Under: 6

Andrei Vasilevskiy and the Tampa Bay Lightning (22-13-4, 3rd in the Atlantic Division) head to PNC Arena on Sunday where they'll take on the Carolina Hurricanes (24-15-2, 4th in the Metropolitan Division). The moneyline on this game has the Lightning priced at +100 and the Hurricanes are at -120. The O/U is set at 6. The Lightning cover 55.3% of the time, having gone 21-17 SU. The Hurricanes cover 56.4% of the time, going 22-17 straight up.

The Tampa Bay Lightning head into this game holding a record of 22 victories and 13 defeats, putting them at 3rd in the Atlantic Division. During the year thus far, they have racked up a total of 138 goals which is good for 5th in the East and 6th in the league. Their goal differential is +17, putting them at 8th in the league. The Lightning have a total of 48 pts, which is good for 13th in the league and 8th in the East. Regarding shots at the opposition, they have a total of 1,277 which is good for 10th in the conference and 20th in the league. As a unit, Tampa Bay has compiled a total of 859 hits which has them averaging 22 per game. They have a total of 389 blocks for the year. Protecting the net for Tampa Bay is Andrei Vasilevskiy from London, Ontario. He is 25 years old and has been on the ice a total of 1,740 mins minding the net this year. Vasilevskiy is giving up an average of 2.83 goals per contest which has him sitting 14th among East goaltenders and 26th in the NHL. So far this season, he's given up 82 goals. He holds a save % of .909 which has him sitting 13th among East goaltenders.

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The Tampa Bay Lightning went home feeling good about their game by earning a 2 - 1 win over the Montreal Canadiens in their last game. The Lightning didn't have their best offensive outing in this victory. In this outing, they scored on 2 out of the 23 shots they looked to score on. Moreover, they had 1 power play attempt but didn't get a goal. Tampa Bay had 15 penalty minutes for this outing. The Corsi for the Lightning sat at 39 and the Corsi against was 65 which means they earned a Corsi percentage of 37.5%. Their Fenwick sat at 31 and the Fenwick against sat at 48, telling us they have a Fenwick percentage of 39.2%. They took 20 face-off wins and were beaten on 29 of the face-offs. Their offensive zone starts were rated at 36.7% and they had a PDO of 106.5 in this one. Regarding their opponent, the Montreal Canadiens tallied 39 shots. They finished with 9 penalty mins and they had 3 power play opportunities.

The Hurricanes will be the team across the ice and for the season they sit with 24 wins and 15 defeats. When looking at goal differential, they currently sit 4th in the East and 5th in the NHL with +21. They have compiled a total of 137 goals for the season which is 6th in the Eastern Conference. Carolina has a team save percentage of .902 which currently has them sitting 19th in the NHL, which tells us there should be some opportunities to score. They are shooting 9.7% putting them at 9th in the East. In goal for Carolina is Petr Mrazek who is having a marginal campaign by giving up 2.72 goals per contest and that has him ranked 12th among Eastern Conference goalies and 19th in the NHL. In the 1,587 minutes he has been on the ice this year, he has given up 72 goals. He holds a save % of .901, which has him placed 24th among Eastern Conference goalies and 46th in the NHL.

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The Carolina Hurricanes faced off against the Washington Capitals in an outing where the Hurricanes took the loss by a final of 4 - 3. In this outing, Carolina earned a 61.4% Corsi rating. They ended up with that by earning a Corsi of 54 while the opposition earned a Corsi of 34. Their Fenwick rate came in at 58.7% by earning a Fenwick of 44 and the Capitals earning a 31 Fenwick. This Corsi percentage speaks to the kind of game that Carolina played and it tells us they had an average game overall. They had a PDO of 95.2 and their percentage of oZS was 49.7%. The Hurricanes netted 3 goals out of the 41 shots on goal they were seeking. They had 6 power play opportunities in this one and converted 2 out of those opportunities. As for their opponent, the Capitals had 4 power play chances and were able to tally 2 goals. Carolina gave way to 29 shots on goal and the Capitals had a total of 24 penalty minutes.

Who will win tonight's NHL game ATS?

Guy's Pick: Take Carolina (-120)

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