Florida Panthers at Colorado Avalanche NHL Picks & Predictions 12/14/2017

Thursday, December 14, 2017

Pepsi Center

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Florida Panthers head to Pepsi Center to take on the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday, December 14, 2017. The opening line for this contest has the Panthers at +104 and the Avalanche at -115.

Florida has a record of 12-14-5 this year and away from home they have a record of 6-8-2. They are 5th in the Atlantic Division. They have tallied 92 goals and surrendered 108 goals for a point differential of -16. For the year they have an ATS mark of 12-19-0 and an over/under record of 16-15-0. Colorado has a record of 14-14-2 including 8-5-1 on home ice this year. They are 7th in the Central Division. They've scored 94 goals and have given up 100 for a goal differential of -6. Their record against the spread is 14-16-0 while their over/under mark is 19-11-0.

Valuable Florida Panthers Betting Trends

The Florida Panthers are 12-19-0 straight up this year

The Florida Panthers are 16-15-0 against the over/under this season

Important Colorado Avalanche Betting Trends

The Colorado Avalanche are 14-16-0 straight up this year

The Colorado Avalanche are 19-11-0 against the over/under this season

Key Florida Panthers Injuries

12/12/17 C Denis Malgin Upper Body left last game, is "?" Thursday vs Colorado
12/06/17 GO Roberto Luongo Leg is out indefinitely

Key Colorado Avalanche Injuries

12/12/17 C Alexander Kerfoot Lower Body is "?" Thursday vs Florida
11/19/17 C Vladislav Kamenev Arm IR (11/16)

Player Spotlight

Vincent Trocheck has scored 32 total points this year for the Panthers. He has 13 goals this season with 107 shots on net, giving him a shooting percentage of 12%. He has a total of 19 assists on the year and averages 21.5 minutes played per contest. Jonathan Huberdeau averages 20.3 minutes of ice time per game this season. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 10% by tallying 9 goals on 89 attempts. He has 23 assists, giving him a total of 32 points on the year. James Reimer has 6 wins and 7 losses this season in goal for the Panthers. He has 537 shots against him and he's surrendered 57 goals. He's made 480 stops for a save percentage of 89%.

Player Spotlight

Mikko Rantanen has 25 total points this season for the Avalanche. He has 9 goals this year with 65 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 14%. He has a total of 16 assists on the year and averages 18.7 minutes played per contest. Nathan MacKinnon averages 19.8 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 12% by scoring 11 goals on 92 attempts. He has 22 assists, giving him a total of 33 points on the year. Semyon Varlamov has 9 wins and 8 losses this season in net for the Avalanche. He has 606 shots against him and he's given up 59 goals. He's made 547 saves for a save percentage of 90%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Panthers have 29 total points this year, which is 26th in the NHL. They've scored 92 goals while giving up 108 scores, which has them ranked 16th and 2nd respectively. They have had 103 power play chances and scored 18 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 17%. That is 22nd in the league. The Panthers have given up 100 power play opportunities and surrendered 22 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 78%, ranking them 24th when short-handed. They average 35 shots per contest and as a team shoot 8.45% for the year. They allow 35 shot attempts to their opposition per game and have a team save percentage of 90%, which is 20th in the league.

Useful Team Statistics

The Avalanche are 24th in the league with a total of 30 points this season. They have 22 power play goals on 124 chances for a percentage of 18%. That is 21st in the NHL. They've given up 115 power play opportunities and surrendered 22 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 81%, ranking 17th overall. As a team, the Avalanche are 11th with a total of 94 goals scored while they've given up 100 goals this season, ranking 7th in goals against. They average 29 shots per game and have a team shooting percentage of 10.69%. As a unit they give up 32 shots per contest and have a save percentage of 90%, putting them 25th overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Florida has a Corsi percentage of 49.4% as they've tried 1,845 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 1,892 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. That ranks them 18th in Corsi percentage. They are 15th in the NHL in Fenwick percentage with 50.1% as they have 1,456 shots while they've given up 1,448 attempts on defense. The Panthers start possessions in the offensive zone 47.4% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 52.6% for the year. That puts them 27th and 4th in the league in zone percentages respectively. They have 1,029 face-off wins as opposed to 968 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 51.5%. That is 6th overall in the NHL. On defense Florida has 630 hits and they've blocked 444 attempts from opposing offenses, which is 20th in the league.

Advanced Statistics

The Avalanche are 20th in the league in starting possessions in the offensive zone, doing so 49% of the time. Their defensive zone percentage is at 51% for the season, which is 9th in the NHL. They have 810 face-off wins compared to 1,033 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 44%. That is 31st in the league. On defense Colorado has 544 hits and they have blocked 445 shots from the opposition, which is 19th in the league. Colorado is 28th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 47.4% as they've attempted 1,622 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 1,798 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage of 47% ranks 25th as they have 1,198 attempts while they have given up 1,353 shots on the defensive end.

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

Guy's Pick: Take Florida +104

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