Tampa Bay Lightning vs Montreal Canadiens Prediction, 12/17/2022 NHL Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Tampa Bay Lightning vs Montreal Canadiens

Date: Saturday, December 17, 2022

Location: Bell Centre in Montreal, QC

TV: TSN

The Montreal Canadiens (14-13-2) welcome the Tampa Bay Lightning (18-9-1) at Bell Centre on Saturday.

The Tampa Bay Lightning were on the right side of the scoreboard with a 6-2 win against the Kraken in the last game they played. Tampa Bay accounted for 19 penalty mins in this contest. The Lightning had a good offensive performance in the win. In addition, they had 3 chances with the advantage and scored 1 goal. While out there on the ice, they converted 6 out of the 30 shots they put on net.

Tampa Bay Lightning opponents have 96 power play tries (13th in pro hockey) and have earned 19 goals in those attempts. The Lightning have seen 868 shots tried against them and are the owners of a save percentage of .904. Tampa Bay has taken 892 shots and has a shot percentage of 11.3%. While playing at even strength, the Lightning have allowed the opponent to score 64 goals while scoring 72 themselves. Tampa Bay has tallied 104 power play opportunities and they have notched 29 goals out of those chances, garnering them a rate of 27.88%. For the year, the have a total of 37 points and their points percentage sits at .661. In the matter of their goal scoring prowess, the Tampa Bay Lightning have notched 101 goals (9th in the NHL) over the course of the season and have given up 83.

The man in goal for this game is Andrei Vasilevskiy. Throughout his time in hockey, Vasilevskiy has 216 quality starts and his quality starts percentage sits at .574. His save percentage is at .919 during his 22,646 mins guarding the cage. Vasilevskiy has seen 11,674 shots taken against him and has recorded 10,727 total saves. The opposition has racked up 947 goals versus Vasilevskiy in his NHL career and his average for goals against per game is 2.51. He has a win-loss mark of 241-109-25 and got the start in 376 games. Vasilevskiy has played in 386 games throughout his NHL career.

In their last outing, Montreal played the Senators in an outing where the Canadiens ended up taking the loss by a score of 3-2. They had 3 chances on the power play in this one but weren't able to score a goal. The Canadiens scored 2 goals out of the 25 shots on goal they pursued.

The Canadiens have accumulated 69 goals at even strength and 13 goals (30th in pro hockey) while having a power play advantage. Montreal has attempted 845 shots (27th in pro hockey) and has a shot percentage of 9.70%, while allowing the other team 957 shots. So far this year, the Montreal Canadiens have earned 82 goals, 30 points, and a points percentage of .517. They have granted a total of 100 goals to be scored by way of 79 goals at even strength and 21 goals while they were shorthanded. They have a total of 93 power play chances and they have a power play percentage of 13.98%. They have a penalty kill percentage of 80.19% on their opponents 106 power play chances, and their save percentage comes in at 89.6%.

On the other side of the ice you are likely to see Jake Allen protecting the net. He has a tally of 9,328 saves out of 10,245 shots taken, giving him a save percentage of .910. Allen is sitting with a career mark of 177-136-35 and has played in 372 games. He got the starting nod in 352 games and has racked up 20,898 minutes. Allen's quality start percentage sits at 53.1% and he has qualified for 187 quality starts in his professional career. The opposition is averaging 2.63 goals/game and he has given up 917 goals in total.

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

Guy's Pick: Take Tampa Bay

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