New Jersey Devils at Columbus Blue Jackets NHL Picks & Predictions 12/5/2017

Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Nationwide Arena

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The New Jersey Devils head to Nationwide Arena to take on the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday, December 5, 2017. The opening line for this contest has the Devils at +162 and the Blue Jackets at -180.

New Jersey has a record of 15-7-4 this year and away from home they have a record of 9-3-2. They are 2nd in the Metropolitan Division. They have tallied 80 goals and surrendered 80 goals for a point differential of 0. For the year they have an ATS mark of 15-11-0 and an over/under record of 13-13-0. Columbus has a record of 17-9-1 including 10-4-0 on home ice this year. They are 1st in the Metropolitan Division. They've scored 79 goals and have given up 66 for a goal differential of +13. Their record against the spread is 17-10-0 while their over/under mark is 12-15-0.

Valuable New Jersey Devils Betting Trends

The New Jersey Devils are 15-11-0 straight up this year

The New Jersey Devils are 13-13-0 against the over/under this season

Important Columbus Blue Jackets Betting Trends

The Columbus Blue Jackets are 17-10-0 straight up this year

The Columbus Blue Jackets are 12-15-0 against the over/under this season

Key New Jersey Devils Injuries

11/22/17 RW Kyle Palmieri Foot IR (11/20)
11/15/17 D Mirco Mueller Collarbone IR (11/12)

Key Columbus Blue Jackets Injuries

12/02/17 D Markus Nutivaara Upper Body is "?" Tuesday vs New Jersey
12/01/17 D Ryan Murray Upper Body IR (11/27)

Player Spotlight

Nico Hischier has scored 18 total points this year for the Devils. He has 5 goals this season with 56 shots on net, giving him a shooting percentage of 9%. He has a total of 13 assists on the year and averages 16.2 minutes played per contest. Jesper Bratt averages 15.9 minutes of ice time per game this season. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 19% by tallying 8 goals on 43 attempts. He has 9 assists, giving him a total of 17 points on the year. Cory Schneider has 10 wins and 5 losses this season in goal for the Devils. He has 622 shots against him and he's surrendered 50 goals. He's made 572 stops for a save percentage of 92%.

Player Spotlight

Josh Anderson has 17 total points this season for the Blue Jackets. He has 10 goals this year with 81 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 12%. He has a total of 7 assists on the year and averages 17.2 minutes played per contest. Artemi Panarin averages 20.1 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 9% by scoring 7 goals on 76 attempts. He has 13 assists, giving him a total of 20 points on the year. Sergei Bobrovsky has 14 wins and 6 losses this season in net for the Blue Jackets. He has 624 shots against him and he's given up 43 goals. He's made 581 saves for a save percentage of 93%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Devils have 34 total points this year, which is 8th in the NHL. They've scored 80 goals while giving up 80 scores, which has them ranked 13th and 17th respectively. They have had 83 power play chances and scored 18 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 22%. That is 9th in the league. The Devils have given up 96 power play opportunities and surrendered 18 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 81%, ranking them 14th when short-handed. They average 30 shots per contest and as a team shoot 10.23% for the year. They allow 34 shot attempts to their opposition per game and have a team save percentage of 91%, which is 9th in the league.

Useful Team Statistics

The Blue Jackets are 5th in the league with a total of 35 points this season. They have 7 power play goals on 75 chances for a percentage of 9%. That is 31st in the NHL. They've given up 68 power play opportunities and surrendered 11 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 84%, ranking 6th overall. As a team, the Blue Jackets are 16th with a total of 79 goals scored while they've given up 66 goals this season, ranking 29th in goals against. They average 35 shots per game and have a team shooting percentage of 8.40%. As a unit they give up 30 shots per contest and have a save percentage of 92%, putting them 5th overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

New Jersey is 29th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 46.5%, as they've attempted 1,394 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 1,607 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage is 47% as they have 1,077 attempts while they have given up 1,214 shots on the defensive end. That ranks them 29th in the league. The Devils start possessions in the offensive zone 45.7% of the time, which is 30th in the league, while their defensive zone percentage is at 54.3% for the season. That is 3rd overall in the NHL. They have 773 face-off wins compared to 886 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 46.6%. That ranks them 27th in the league. On defense New Jersey has 564 hits and they have blocked 393 shots from the opposition, putting them 13th overall.

Advanced Statistics

The Blue Jackets are 12th in the league in starting possessions in the offensive zone, doing so 52.1% of the time. Their defensive zone percentage is at 47.9% for the season, which is 20th in the NHL. They have 732 face-off wins compared to 855 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 46.1%. That is 30th in the league. On defense Columbus has 582 hits and they have blocked 404 shots from the opposition, which is 8th in the league. Columbus is 5th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 52.3% as they've attempted 1,634 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 1,492 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage of 53.8% ranks 2nd as they have 1,269 attempts while they have given up 1,088 shots on the defensive end.

Who will win tonight's Devils/Blue Jackets NHL game against the spread?

Guy's Pick: Take New Jersey +162

Get $60 worth of FREE premium member picks. No Obligation. No Salesman. No Credit Card. Fast Sign up with Instant Access Click Here

Read more articles by Guy Bruhn