Tampa Bay Lightning vs Calgary Flames Betting Pick & Prediction 12/16/23

Betting on today’s Lightning and Flames game? Catch the action at Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, AB, as the Flames hosts this showdown at 10:00 ET on BSSU. The over/under for this non-conference contest is set at 6.5 goals, with the Flames being the favored team playing at home against the Lightning.

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING VS CALGARY FLAMES BETTING PICK

The Pick: Calgary Flames -1.5

This game will be played at Scotiabank Saddledome at 10:00 ET on Saturday, December 16th.

WHY BET THE CALGARY FLAMES:

Even though they are 1.5 goal underdogs, we see the Lightning winning this game by a score of 4-3.
We like the Lightning on the moneyline (-109)
The Lightning are also our pick on the spread at +1.5

Can the Lightning Pull the Upset on the Road?

Facing the Flames, the Lightning have a record of 14-12-5 so far. At home, their record is 8-3-3 and 6-9-2 on the road. In the Eastern Atlantic division, they are currently 5th, and in the Eastern conference, they come into the game sitting 9th.

Analyzing their performance against the puck line, Tampa Bay has a 16-15 record. On the road they are 7-10 against the puck line, while their overall home performance is9-5. On average, Tampa Bay’s games have finished with 6.9 goals per game. The season’s average over/under line stands at 6.5. In total, the Lightning come in with an over/under record of 14-15-2.

In their last three games away from home, the Lightning have a straight up record of 2-1 while going 1-2 vs the spread. The team’s offense averaged 4 goals per game in these contests.

For their offensive performance, the Lightning come in averaging 3.3 goals per game this season, which is 4th in the NHL. In the category of shots on goal per game, they are 8th in the league. Looking at how the Lightning’s offense is performing during power plays, they are 1st in power play goals and 30th in shorthanded goals.

Tampa Bay will be looking for a good game from Nikita Kucherov who leads the team in scoring with 20 goals, ranking 3rd in the NHL. Along with his scoring, he has come up with 30 assists so far.

Entering the game, the Flames’ defense ranks 13th in takeaways, averaging 6.7 takeaways per contest. In the NHL, they currently stand at 17th in terms of goals allowed, giving up an average of 3.2 goals per game.

Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy gets the start and has made nine starts this season. His record at this point is 5-4, and his save percentage is 0.394%.

Will Calgary Find a Way to Win at Home?

Coming into their game vs. Lightning, the Flames have a 11-15-5 record. They hold a 6-6-1 record when playing at home, and they have gone 5-9-4 on the road. Their current record places them 5th in the Western Pacific division and 11th in the Western conference.

Regarding the puck line, Calgary comes in with a 14-16 record. On the road against the puck line, they are 7-10, while their home record is 7-6. For the season, Calgary’s games have finished with an average of 6.5 goals per game. Their average over/under line for the season is 6.2. Overall, the Flames have an over/under record of 18-11-1.

Across their last three home contests, Calgary has a 3-0 record vs the spread. Their overall mark in these games was 0-3, while averaging 3 goals per game.

The Flames come into the game scoring an average of 3 goals per game, putting them 19th in the NHL. Regarding shots targeted at the goal per game, they are 5th in the league. This season, the Flames are 6-9 when getting more shots on goal than their opponents. And in games with fewer shots on goal, they have a 4-6 record.

The leading scorer for Calgary’s offense is Yegor Sharangovich. Coming into the game he has 10 goals, ranking 73rd in the NHL. In addition to his goal scoring, Sharangovich has 8 assists this season.

Entering the game, goalie Dustin Wolf has started four games this season. His current record stands at 1-2, and his save percentage is 0.256%.