Nashville Predators at Pittsburgh Penguins NHL Picks & Predictions 10/7/2017

Saturday, October 7, 2017

PPG Paints Arena

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Nashville Predators head to PPG Paints Arena to take on the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday, October 7, 2017. The opening line for this contest has the Predators at +155 and the Penguins at -195.

Nashville had a record of 41-29-12 last year and away from home they had a record of 17-20-4. They were 4th in the Central Division. They tallied 240 goals and surrendered 224 goals for a point differential of +16. For the year they had an ATS mark of 55-49-0 and an over/under record of 47-45-0. Pittsburgh finished with a record of 50-21-11 including 31-6-4 on home ice last year. They were 2nd in the Metropolitan Division. They scored 282 goals and gave up 234 for a goal differential of +48. Their record against the spread was 66-41-0 while their over/under mark was 58-42-0.

Valuable Nashville Predators Betting Trends

The Nashville Predators were 55-49-0 straight up last year

The Nashville Predators were 47-45-0 against the over/under last season

Important Pittsburgh Penguins Betting Trends

The Pittsburgh Penguins were 66-41-0 straight up last year

The Pittsburgh Penguins were 58-42-0 against the over/under last season

Key Nashville Predators Injuries

10/02/17 D Ryan Ellis Knee out indefinitely

Key Pittsburgh Penguins Injuries

10/06/17 RW Patric Hornqvist Hand "?" Saturday vs. Nashville

Player Spotlight

Filip Forsberg scored 58 total points last year for the Predators. He had 31 goals last season with 233 shots on net giving him a shooting percentage of 13%. He had a total of 27 assists on the year and averaged 18.5 minutes played per contest. Roman Josi averaged 25.1 minutes of ice time per game last season. In that time he had a shooting percentage of 6% by tallying 12 goals on 217 attempts. He had 37 assists giving him a total of 49 points on the year. Pekka Rinne had 31 wins and 19 losses last season in goal for the Predators. He had 1,757 shots against him and he surrendered 144 goals. He made 1,613 stops for a save percentage of 92%.

Player Spotlight

Sidney Crosby had 88 total points last season for the Penguins. He had 43 goals last year with 253 shots on goal giving him a shooting percentage of 17%. He had a total of 45 assists on the year and averaged 19.9 minutes played per contest. Evgeni Malkin averaged 18.6 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he had a shooting percentage of 17% by scoring 33 goals on 191 attempts. He had 39 assists giving him a total of 72 points on the year. Matthew Murray had 32 wins and 10 losses last season in net for the Penguins. He had 1,450 shots against him and he gave up 111 goals. He made 1,339 saves for a save percentage of 92%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Predators had 94 total points last year, which was 16th in the NHL. They scored 240 goals while giving up 224 scores, which had them ranked 11th and 16th respectively. They had 259 power play chances and scored 49 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 19%. That was 16th in the league. The Predators gave up 241 power play opportunities and surrendered 46 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 81%, ranking them 15th when short-handed. They averaged 31 shots per contest and as a team shot 9.39% for the year. They allowed 30 shot attempts to their opposition per game and had a team save percentage of 91%, which was 15th in the league.

Useful Team Statistics

The Penguins were 2nd in the league with a total of 111 points last season. They had 60 power play goals on 260 chances for a percentage of 23%. That was 3rd in the NHL. They gave up 257 power play opportunities and surrendered 52 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 80%, ranking 20th overall. As a team, the Penguins were 1st with a total of 282 goals scored while they gave up 234 goals last season, ranking 14th in goals against. They averaged 33 shots per game and had a team shooting percentage of 10.27%. As a unit they gave up 33 shots per contest and had a save percentage of 91%, putting them 10th overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

The Predators were 14th in the league in starting possessions in the offensive zone, doing so 50.7% of the time. Their defensive zone percentage was at 49.3% for the season, which was 17th in the NHL. They had 2,599 face-off wins compared to 2,453 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage was 51.4%. That was 9th in the league. On defense Nashville had 1,660 hits and they blocked 1,110 shots from the opposition, which was 20th in the league. Nashville was 7th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 51.1% as they attempted 4,776 shots on net at full strength while they gave up 4,570 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage of 50.6% ranked 11th as they had 3,545 attempts while they gave up 3,460 shots on the defensive end.

Advanced Statistics

Pittsburgh had a Corsi percentage of 49.8% as they tried 4,814 shots on goal while at full strength while they surrendered 4,855 shots on net when they had a full team on the ice. That ranked them 18th in Corsi percentage. They were 12th in the NHL in Fenwick percentage with 50.7% as they had 3,648 shots while they gave up 3,548 attempts on defense. The Penguins started possessions in the offensive zone 53.4% of the time while their defensive zone percentage was at 46.6% for the year. That put them 7th and 26th in the league in zone percentages respectively. They had 2,452 face-off wins as opposed to 2,702 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage was 47.6%. That was 27th overall in the NHL. On defense Pittsburgh had 2,060 hits and they blocked 1,307 attempts from opposing offenses, which was 6th in the league.

Who will win tonight's Predators/Penguins NHL game against the spread?

Josh's Pick: Take Nashville +155

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