Carolina Hurricanes vs Tampa Bay Lightning Prediction, 2/25/2021 NHL Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Carolina Hurricanes vs Tampa Bay Lightning

Date: Thursday, February 25, 2021

Location: Amalie Arena in Tampa, FL

TV: ESPN+

Odds/Point Spread: Hurricanes (+125) Lightning (-145)

Amalie Arena is the venue where Andrei Vasilevskiy and the Tampa Bay Lightning (11-4-1) will take on the Carolina Hurricanes (12-4-1) on Thursday. The Hurricanes open this matchup at +125 while the Lightning are priced at -145. The O/U has been set at 6.5.

The Hurricanes will look for better times on the ice after their 4-2 loss against the Lightning in their last contest. The Hurricanes didn't have their best offensive outing in this defeat. For the game, they converted 2 out of the 36 shots they tried. Furthermore, they had 3 power play opportunities and were able to net 1 goal. Carolina accumulated 6 mins in the box in this contest. The Corsi for the Hurricanes sat at 57 and the Corsi against when this game finished was 53 which had their Corsi percentage coming in at 51.8%. Their Fenwick was 45 and the Fenwick Against sat at 41, meaning they had a Fenwick percentage of 52.3%. They accrued 29 face-off wins at even strength and were beaten on 19 opportunities to take control of the puck. Their starts in the offensive zone were rated at 46.7% and they had a PDO of 91.1 in this game.

The Hurricanes have had 480 shots tried against them and hold a save percentage of .902. At even strength, the Hurricanes have allowed 35 goals while getting 45 on the offensive side of the ice. Carolina Hurricanes opponents have 60 power play opportunities (13th in professional hockey) and have come away with 12 goals in those chances. For the year, they have recorded 25 points and their points percentage is .735. Carolina has taken 548 shots and holds a shot percentage of 11.1%. With regard to their scoring, the Carolina Hurricanes have earned 61 goals (4th in pro hockey) on the season and have surrendered 47. Carolina has accounted for 55 power play opportunities and they have scored 16 goals during those advantages, garnering them a rate of 29.09%.

Protecting the goal for this matchup will be James Reimer. The opposition has racked up 944 goals versus Reimer in his pro hockey career and his goals against average per game is 2.81. Reimer has taken the ice for 373 contests throughout his hockey career. His save percentage currently sits at .913 in his 20,179 minutes in the crease. He has amassed an overall record of 166-128-41 and he was named the starter in 339 games. During his career on the ice, Reimer has accrued 172 quality starts and his rate for quality starts is .507. Reimer has had 10,861 shot attempts taken against him and has recorded 9,917 saves.

In their win over Carolina, Tampa Bay wound up with a 48.2% Corsi rate. These Corsi stats speak to the kind of game that Tampa Bay had and it was a good performance overall. Their Fenwick rate was 47.7% by way of having a Fenwick of 41 and the Hurricanes having notched a 45 Fenwick. They had a PDO at even strength of 109 and they finished the game with an oZS percentage of 53.3%. The Lightning recorded 4 goals of the 32 shots on goal they took. They had 4 attempts on the power play in this one and converted 1 out of those chances.

The Lightning have racked up 44 goals at even strength and 14 goals (12th in hockey) while having a power play advantage. Tampa Bay has attempted 492 shots (22nd in the NHL) and has earned a shot percentage of 11.79%, while allowing their opponents 454 shots. This season, the Tampa Bay Lightning have earned a total of 58 goals, 23 points, in addition to a points percentage of .719. They have earned 55 chances on the power play and they have earned a power play percentage of 25.45%. They have accumulated a penalty kill rate of 85.19% on their opponents 54 power play opportunities, and their save percentage currently sits at 91.6%. They have permitted 38 goals to be scored by of a combination of 30 goals at even strength and 8 goals while they had less men on the ice.

Across the rink you are going to see Andrei Vasilevskiy defending the net. He has accrued 7,669 saves out of 8,340 shots attempted, giving him a save % of .920. Vasilevskiy has accrued a career record of 169-76-19 and has been in net for 274 games. He has started in 264 contests and has been on the ice for 15,943 minutes. Vasilevskiy's percentage of quality starts comes out to 56.8% and he has qualified for 150 quality starts in his professional career. Opponents are averaging 2.53 goals per game and he has surrendered 671 goals in total.

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

Josh's Pick: Take Carolina (+125)

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