Tampa Bay Lightning vs Boston Bruins Predictions, NHL Picks 3/7/2020

Game: Tampa Bay Lightning vs Boston Bruins

Date: Saturday, March 7, 2020

Location: TD Garden in Boston, MA

TV: NESN/SunS

Odds/Point Spread: Lightning (+122) Bruins (-135)

Total/Over-Under: 5.5

Tuukka Rask and the Boston Bruins (43-13-12, 1st in the Atlantic Division) host the Tampa Bay Lightning (42-20-5, 2nd in the Atlantic Division) at TD Garden on Saturday, March 7, 2020. The Lightning open this game at +122 while the Bruins are priced at -135. The O/U opens at 5.5. The Lightning cover 61.5% of the time, having gone 40-25 SU. Boston is covering 63.2% of the time, going 43-25 straight up.

The Tampa Bay Lightning step onto the ice with a record of 42 wins and 20 losses, which puts them at 2nd in the Atlantic Division. Thus far in the season, they have earned a total of 233 goals which is good for 2nd in the Eastern Conference and 2nd in the NHL. Their goal differential is +48, which puts them at 3rd in the NHL. The Lightning currently have a total of 89 pts, which is good for 3rd in the NHL and 2nd in the East. With regard to shots at the opposition, they currently have a total of 2,081 which is good for 10th in the conference and 18th in the NHL. As a unit, Tampa Bay has a total of 1,499 hits which means they are averaging 22.4 per contest. They currently have a total of 678 blocks for the season. Looking after the net for Tampa Bay is Andrei Vasilevskiy from London, Ontario. He is 25 years old and has played 3,003 mins in net this year. Vasilevskiy is allowing an average of 2.56 GAA which ranks him 9th among Eastern Conference goaltenders and 14th in the NHL among goaltenders. During this year, he's given up 128 goals. He has a save percentage of .916 which ranks him 7th among Eastern Conference goaltenders.

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The Tampa Bay Lightning came out of this game feeling pretty good about themselves with a 4 - 0 victory against the Montreal Canadiens in their previous game. The Lightning had a good offensive outing and it showed in this victory. In this outing, they converted 4 out of the 23 shots they looked to score on. Furthermore, they had 3 power play opportunities and were able to net 1 goal out of those chances. Tampa Bay earned a total of 11 penalty mins in this game. The Corsi for the Lightning was 34 and the Corsi against was 39 giving them a Corsi percentage of 46.6%. Their Fenwick sat at 29 and the Fenwick against at even strength was 30, meaning they had a Fenwick percentage of 49.2%. They took 22 face-off wins and lost 27 of the face-offs. Their offensive zone starts came in at 52.9% and they had a PDO of 115.8 in this one. Concerning opponent stats, the Montreal Canadiens put up 32 shots. They finished with 21 penalty mins and they earned a total of 3 power play chances.

The Bruins will be the team on the other side of the ice and for the campaign they have 43 wins and 13 defeats. When it comes to goal differential, they are sitting 1st in the Eastern Conference and 1st in the league with +60. They have a total of 222 goals for the year which is good for 6th in the Eastern Conference. Boston has a team save % of .921 which currently has them sitting 1st in the league, meaning scoring opportunities may be scarce. They have a team shooting percentage of 10.2% putting them at 6th in the conference. In net for Boston is Tuukka Rask who is having an ok year by surrendering 2.13 GAA and that ranks him 1st among Eastern Conference goaltenders and 1st among goalies in the NHL. In the 2,283 mins he has been on the ice this season, he has surrendered 81 goals. He holds a save percentage of .928, which has him placed 3rd among Eastern Conference goaltenders and 5th among goalies in the NHL.

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The Boston Bruins went up against the Florida Panthers in a game where the Bruins got the win by a tally of 2 - 1. While out there on the ice, Boston earned a 39.6% Corsi rating. They wound up with that percentage by having a Corsi of 38 while the opposition earned a Corsi of 58. Their Fenwick rate was 36.1% with a Fenwick of 26 and the Panthers ending the game with a 46 Fenwick. This Corsi rating is telling of the kind of game that Boston had and we'd say it was a below average outing in all. Their PDO at even strength was 101.3 and they earned an oZS percentage of 50.5%. The Bruins notched 2 goals out of the 28 shots on goal they attempted. They had 4 power play attempts in this one and converted 1 out of those tries. Regarding the opposition, the Panthers had 4 power play attempts but were not able to notch a goal. Boston gave up 33 shots on goal and the Panthers earned a total of 15 penalty mins.

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

Tony's Pick: Take Tampa Bay (+122)

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