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Tampa Bay Lightning vs. St. Louis Blues Free Prediction 12/12/17

The Tampa Bay Lightning and the St. Louis Blues clash at the Scottrade Center in an East-West matchup. The opening face-off is at 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday, December 12, and it will be televised live on NBC Sports Network.

Tampa Bay Lightning at St. Louis Blues Odds

Tampa Bay (-105) is currently the underdog to Tampa Bay (-115), and the Over/Under (O/U) is set at 6 goals (-110 for the over, -110 for the under).

St. Louis is 21-10 straight up (SU) and has netted 7.3 units for moneyline bettors this year. That winning percentage, ranked second in the NHL in this young season, is an improvement over the 46-36 record from the 2016-17 season campaign. Out of the team’s 31 regular season matches, 16 of them have gone under the total, while 15 have gone over and none have pushed. The team is 11-5 SU at home this season.

The Blues have converted on just 16.8 percent of their power play opportunities this season, a mark that’s ranked 26th overall in the NHL. On the other hand, their penalty kill is rated 23rd overall, and they’ve successfully killed off 78.9 percent of all penalties.

As a collective unit, the Blues have been penalized just 3.5 times per game overall this season, 3.0 per game over their last five matchups total, and 3.8 per game over their last five home outings. The team has had to kill penalties for just 7.0 minutes per game over their last 10 matchups, in total.

Sporting a .913 save percentage and 25.3 saves per game, Jake Allen (17 wins, nine losses, and two OT losses) has been the best goalkeeper for the Blue Notes this season. If St. Louis chooses to give him a rest, however, it may turn to Carter Hutton (5-3-3 record, .937 save percentage, 1.88 goals against average).

Brayden Schenn and Jaden Schwartz will both lead the charge for the Blues. Schenn (37 points) has put up 16 goals and 21 assists and has recorded multiple points on 10 different occasions this year. Schwartz has 14 goals and 21 assists to his name and has notched a point in 20 games.

On the other side of the rink, Tampa Bay is 21-8 straight up (SU) and has netted moneyline bettors 10.2 units this season. A total of 18 of its outings have gone over the total, while 11 have gone under and none have pushed. The Lightning are 8-5 SU as the road team this season.

The Lightning currently have the first-strongest power-play unit in the NHL, as they’ve converted on 28.4 percent of their extra-man opportunities this season. On the other hand, its penalty kill unit is ranked seventh overall and it’s successfully killed off 82.6 percent of all opponent power plays.

Tampa Bay’s players have been whistled for penalties 3.8 times per game this season, and 2.6 per game over their last five match ups. The team’s had to kill penalties just 6.0 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.

Andrei Vasilevskiy (.930 save percentage and 2.24 goals against average) has been the main option in goal for Tampa Bay. Vasilevskiy is averaging 30.0 saves per game and owns a 19-5-1 record.

Steven Stamkos (12 goals, 30 assists) has been one of the top playmaking threats for the visiting Lightning.

Tampa Bay Lightning vs. St. Louis Blues Betting Predictions

Predictions: SU Winner – Blues, O/U – Under

Notes

Betting Trends

Six of St. Louis’ last ten outings have been decided by two or more goals. The team is 4-2 overall in those games.

Tampa Bay has scored 3.8 goals per game overall this season, but has raised it up to 5.0 per match up over the team’s four-game winning streak.

Power plays and penalty kills could be even more critical than usual in this game. The Lightning are 13-4 when they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent and 12-4 in games where they’re in the penalty box for fewer than 10 total minutes. The Blues are 10-6 when they serve fewer penalty minutes than the opposition and 14-7 when they’re in the box for less than 10 minutes.

Tampa Bay is 1-1 in games decided by a shootout this season while St. Louis is 2-0 in shootouts.

The under has hit in three of St. Louis’ last five outings.

St. Louis has allowed 2.5 goals per game overall this season, but has driven that figure down to 1.5 per contest over its four-game winning streak.

St. Louis skaters have averaged 3.2 giveaways over its last five home games, an improvement from its season average of 5.0 giveaways per game (ranked 1st in the NHL).

Tampa Bay skaters have averaged 9.4 giveaways over its last five home games, its season average of 9.0 giveaways per game (ranked 12th).

The Blue Notes this season have registered the seventh-most hits in the NHL (23.6 per game).

Written by GMS Previews

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