St. Louis Blues at Montreal Canadiens NHL Picks & Predictions 12/5/2017

Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Bell Centre

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The St. Louis Blues travel to Bell Centre to play the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday, December 5, 2017. The opening line for this game has the Blues at +104 and the Canadiens at -115.

St. Louis has a record of 17-8-2 this season and on the road they have a record of 8-3-2. They are 2nd in the Central Division. They've scored 88 goals and given up 72 goals for a point differential of +16. For the season they have an ATS record of 17-10-0 and an over/under record of 13-14-0. Montreal has a record of 13-12-3 including 8-5-2 at home this season. They are 3rd in the Atlantic Division. They've scored 78 goals and surrendered 86 for a goal differential of -8. Their record against the spread is 13-15-0 while their over/under record is 13-13-0.

Valuable St. Louis Blues Betting Trends

The St. Louis Blues are 17-10-0 straight up this year

The St. Louis Blues are 13-14-0 against the over/under this season

Important Montreal Canadiens Betting Trends

The Montreal Canadiens are 13-15-0 straight up this year

The Montreal Canadiens are 13-13-0 against the over/under this season

Key St. Louis Blues Injuries

10/07/17 LW Zachary Sanford Shoulder IR (10/01)
09/27/17 C Robby Fabbri ACL IR (10/01)

Key Montreal Canadiens Injuries

12/02/17 LW Jonathan Drouin Lower Body is "?" Tuesday vs St Louis
11/15/17 LW Artturi Lehkonen Lower Body IR (11/13)
11/12/17 GO Al Montoya Concussion IR (11/09)
10/30/17 LW Nikita Scherbak Knee IR (10/26)
10/22/17 RW Ales Hemsky Upper Body IR (10/20)

Player Spotlight

Jake Allen has 13 wins and 6 losses this season in net for the Blues. He has 614 shots against him and he's given up 57 goals. He's made 557 saves for a save percentage of 91%. Brayden Schenn has accumulated 30 total points this season for the Blues. He has 10 goals this year with 72 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 14%. He has a total of 20 assists on the season and averages 19.6 minutes played per game. Vladimir Tarasenko averages 19.8 minutes of ice time per game this year. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 10% by scoring 12 goals on 116 shots. He has 17 assists, giving him a total of 29 points on the season.

Player Spotlight

Jonathan Drouin has scored 17 total points this year for the Canadiens. He has 5 goals this season with 64 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 8%. He has a total of 12 assists on the season and averages 17.8 minutes played per game. Carey Price has 8 wins and 7 losses this year in goal for the Canadiens. He has 473 shots against him and he's surrendered 45 goals. He's made 428 saves for a save percentage of 91%. Brendan Gallagher averages 15.4 minutes of ice time per game. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 15% by scoring 13 goals on 87 shots. He has 6 assists, giving him a total of 19 points on the season.

Useful Team Statistics

The Blues have allowed 86 power play opportunities and have given up 19 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 78% this year. That is 21st in the NHL. They average 35 shots per game and as a team shoot 9.41% for the season. They allow 30 shots to their opposition per contest and have a team save percentage of 91%, which is ranked 10th in the league. The Blues has 36 total points this season, ranking 4th in the NHL in offense. They are 6th in the league with 88 goals while they've given up 72 goals, which is 25th overall. They have had 97 power play opportunities and scored 17 goals on those chances for a percentage of 18%. That is 21st in the NHL.

Useful Team Statistics

As a team, the Canadiens are 20th with 78 goals scored while they are 7th in the NHL with 86 goals allowed this year. They average 35 shots per contest and have a team shooting percentage of 8.02%. They give up 31 shots per game and have a save percentage of 90%, putting them in 21st place in the league. The Canadiens have a total of 29 points this year, which is 20th in the NHL. They have 17 power play goals on 95 opportunities for a percentage of 18%. That ranks their power play unit 19th. They've allowed 92 power play opportunities and have given up 21 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 77%, which is 25th overall.

Advanced Statistics

St. Louis has a Corsi percentage of 53.4% as they've tried 1,665 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 1,455 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. That ranks them 3rd in Corsi percentage. They are 4th in the NHL in Fenwick percentage with 54.1% as they have 1,276 shots while they've given up 1,082 attempts on defense. The Blues start possessions in the offensive zone 52% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 48% for the year. That puts them 14th and 22nd in the league in zone percentages respectively. They have 809 face-off wins as opposed to 834 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 49.2%. That is 25th overall in the NHL. On defense St. Louis has 631 hits and they've blocked 373 attempts from opposing offenses, which is 21st in the league.

Advanced Statistics

The Canadiens are 9th in the league in starting possessions in the offensive zone, doing so 52.7% of the time. Their defensive zone percentage is at 47.3% for the season, which is 23rd in the NHL. They have 885 face-off wins compared to 901 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 49.6%. That is 17th in the league. On defense Montreal has 676 hits and they have blocked 445 shots from the opposition, which is 2nd in the league. Montreal is 6th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 51.9% as they've attempted 1,763 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 1,631 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage of 52.4% ranks 6th as they have 1,306 attempts while they have given up 1,186 shots on the defensive end.

Who will win tonight's Blues/Canadiens NHL game against the spread?

Josh's Pick: Take Montreal -115

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