Boston Bruins vs Tampa Bay Lightning Predictions, Picks, Betting Tips 8/23/2020

Game: Boston Bruins vs Tampa Bay Lightning

Date: Sunday, August 23, 2020

Location: Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, ON

TV: NBC

Odds/Point Spread: Bruins (+100) Lightning (-118)

Total/Over-Under: 6.5

Andrei Vasilevskiy and the Tampa Bay Lightning host the Boston Bruins at Scotiabank Arena on Sunday in Game 1 of their series. The Bruins open this game at +100 while the Lightning are priced at -118. The O/U has been set at 6.5. The Bruins are covering 62.9% of the time, having gone 44-26 SU. Tampa Bay is covering 60.3% of the time, going 41-27 straight up.

The Bruins were on the winning side of the scoreboard with a 2 - 1 win over the Hurricanes in their last contest to close out the series. The Bruins didn't have a great showing offensively in this win. While out there on the ice, they finished 2 out of the 27 shots they looked to score on. Additionally, they had 4 power play opportunities and notched 2 goals out of those chances. Boston earned 6 penalty mins for this game. The Corsi for the Bruins was 28 and the Corsi against at even strength was 46 which means they had a Corsi percentage of 37.8%. Their Fenwick sat at 21 while the Fenwick against at even strength was 33, which gave them a Fenwick percentage of 38.9%. They earned 14 face-off wins at even strength and were beaten on 19 of the face-offs. Their offensive zone starts were rated at 47.1% and they had a PDO of 94.4 in this one. In discussing stats from the opponent, the Carolina Hurricanes racked up a total of 24 shots. They ended the game with 8 penalty mins and they earned 3 power play opportunities.

The Boston Bruins head into this matchup holding a record of 44 wins and 14 losses, which puts them at 1st in the Atlantic Division. So far this season, they have earned a total of 227 goals which puts them at 6th in the conference and 7th in the league. Their goal differential is +60, which puts them at 1st in the league. The Bruins have a total of 100 pts, which puts them at 1st in the league and 1st in the East. in respect to shots at the opposing goalie, they have a total of 2,247 which puts them at 6th in the Eastern Conference and 10th in the league. As a unit, Boston currently has a total of 1,562 hits which has them averaging 22.3 per contest. They have a total of 754 blocks for the year. The man in the crease for Boston is Jaroslav Halak from Gothenburg, Sweden. He is 34 years old and has played a total of 1,833 mins in net for the campaign. Halak is conceding an average of 2.39 goals per contest which has him ranked 4th among Eastern Conference goaltenders and 7th in the NHL. Over the course of this year, he has allowed 73 goals. He holds a save percentage of .919 which has him ranked 6th among Eastern Conference goaltenders.

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The Lightning played the Blue Jackets in a game where the Lightning earned a victory by a score of 5 - 4 to secure the series win. Tampa Bay had a 47.1% Corsi rating. They got to that percentage by earning a Corsi of 48 and they surrendered a Corsi of 54. Their Fenwick rate came in at 45.5% by way of having a Fenwick of 35 and the Blue Jackets having a 42 Fenwick at even strength. These Corsi statistics are telling of the type of game that Tampa Bay played and it tells us that they played really well in this game. They had a PDO at even strength of 110.3 and their oZS percentage was 49.8%. The Lightning netted 5 goals out of the 25 shots on goal they were seeking. They had 1 power play attempt in this outing but didn't score a goal. On the other side of the ice, the Blue Jackets had 6 power play attempts and ended up scoring 1 goal. Tampa Bay gave way to 41 shots on goal and the Blue Jackets racked up 2 penalty minutes.

The Lightning will be the team on the other side of the ice and for the campaign they sit with 43 wins and 21 losses. In connection with goal differential, they sit 2nd in the East and 2nd in the NHL with +49. They have earned a total of 243 goals for the season which ranks 1st in the Eastern Conference. Tampa Bay has a team save % of .910 which has them sitting 9th in the NHL, meaning scoring chances could be there if they are opportunistic. They have a shooting percentage of 11.2% which puts them at 1st in the conference. In net for Tampa Bay is Andrei Vasilevskiy who is having an average season by surrendering 2.56 goals per game and that has him ranked 9th among Eastern Conference goaltenders and 14th in the NHL among goalies. In the 3,122 mins he's played this year, he has surrendered 133 goals. He has a save % of .917, which ranks him 7th among Eastern Conference goaltenders and 18th in the NHL among goalies.

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

Tony's Pick: Take Boston (+100)

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