Chicago Blackhawks vs Tampa Bay Lightning Predictions, NHL Picks 2/27/2020

Game: Chicago Blackhawks vs Tampa Bay Lightning

Date: Thursday, February 27, 2020

Location: Amalie Arena in Tampa, FL

TV: NSCH/SunS

Odds/Point Spread: Blackhawks (+153) Lightning (-170)

Total/Over-Under: 6

Andrei Vasilevskiy and the Tampa Bay Lightning (40-18-5, 2nd in the Atlantic Division) host the Chicago Blackhawks (27-28-8, 7th in the Central Division) at Amalie Arena on Thursday, February 27, 2020. The odds on this matchup have the Blackhawks priced at +153 and the Lightning are at -170. The total opens at 6. The Blackhawks cover 40.0% of the time, having gone 24-36 SU. The Lightning cover 62.3% of the time, going 38-23 straight up.

The Chicago Blackhawks come into the game with a record of 27 victories and 28 losses, putting them at 7th in the Central Division. During the season thus far, they have scored a total of 184 goals which has them sitting at 10th in the conference and 20th in the NHL. Their goal differential is -15, putting them at 25th in the NHL. The Blackhawks have earned a total of 62 pts, which has them sitting at 25th in the NHL and 12th in the West. In the matter of shots at the opposition, they have earned a total of 1,993 which has them sitting at 7th in the conference and 14th in the NHL. As a team, Chicago has obtained a total of 1,308 hits which has them averaging 20.8 per contest. They have earned a total of 788 blocks for the year. The man in net for Chicago is Corey Crawford from Montreal, Quebec. He is 35 years old and has played 1,922 minutes minding the goal for the year. Crawford is surrendering an average of 2.90 goals against average which has him ranked 19th in the Western Conference and 39th in the NHL among goalies. During this year, he's allowed 93 goals. He holds a save % of .913 which has him ranked 14th in the Western Conference.

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The Chicago Blackhawks will look for better times on the ice after their 6 - 5 defeat against the St. Louis Blues in their last contest. The Blackhawks had a solid offensive outing in this loss. While out there on the ice, they netted 5 of the 30 shots they looked to score on. Furthermore, they had 4 power play chances and were able to net 3 goals out of those tries. Chicago had 8 penalty minutes in this outing. The Corsi for the Blackhawks was 31 and the Corsi against was 45 which earned them a Corsi percentage of 40.8%. Their Fenwick sat at 27 while the Fenwick against sat at 37, which means they had a Fenwick percentage of 42.2%. They earned 23 face-off wins at even strength and were beaten on 27 of the face-offs. Their offensive zone starts were rated at 45.8% and they had a PDO at even strength of 95.3 for this game. Concerning opponent stats, the St. Louis Blues racked up a total of 37 shots. They finished with a total of 8 minutes in the box and they earned 4 power play attempts.

The Lightning will be on the other side of the ice and for the season they sit with 40 victories and 18 defeats. When it comes to goal differential, they are currently ranked 2nd in the East and 2nd in the league with +47. They currently have a total of 222 goals for this season which ranks them 2nd in the East. Tampa Bay has a team save percentage of .910 which has them sitting 9th in the league, which tells us there should be some chances to score. They are shooting 11.3% which puts them at 1st in the conference. In net for Tampa Bay is Andrei Vasilevskiy who is having an ok season by giving up 2.61 GAA and that has him 11th among Eastern Conference goalies and 16th among goaltenders in the NHL. In the 2,824 minutes he has been on the ice, he's surrendered 123 goals. He holds a save percentage of .915, which puts him at 11th among Eastern Conference goalies and 22nd among goaltenders in the NHL.

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The Tampa Bay Lightning opposed the Toronto Maple Leafs in an outing where the Lightning took the defeat by a tally of 4 - 3. For this matchup, Tampa Bay wound up with a 60.0% Corsi rating. They got to that percentage by earning a Corsi of 45 while their opponent had a Corsi of 30. They earned a Fenwick percentage of 60.7% by way of having a Fenwick of 37 and the Maple Leafs ending the game with a 24 Fenwick at even strength. This Corsi rating is telling of the kind of game that Tampa Bay played and we'd say they played an average game. Their PDO was 100.6 and they finished this one with an oZS percentage of 75.0%. The Lightning converted 3 goals of the 29 shots on goal they pursued. They had 3 power play attempts in this game but didn't score a goal. On the other side of the ice, the Maple Leafs had 4 power play chances and ended up scoring 2 goals. Tampa Bay gave up 23 shots on goal and the Maple Leafs had 6 penalty minutes.

Who will win tonight's NHL game ATS?

Josh's Pick: Take Chicago (+153)

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