Toronto Maple Leafs at Columbus Blue Jackets NHL Picks & Predictions 12/20/2017

Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Nationwide Arena

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Toronto Maple Leafs travel to Nationwide Arena to play the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday, December 20, 2017. The opening line for this game has the Maple Leafs at +100 and the Blue Jackets at -110.

Toronto has a record of 20-13-1 this season and on the road they have a record of 10-8-1. They are 2nd in the Atlantic Division. They've scored 109 goals and given up 97 goals for a point differential of +12. For the season they have an ATS record of 20-14-0 and an over/under record of 16-15-0. Columbus is 20-13-1 including 12-6-0 at home this season. They are 3rd in the Metropolitan Division. They've scored 97 goals and surrendered 93 for a goal differential of +4. Their record against the spread is 20-13-0 while their over/under record is 15-17-0.

Valuable Toronto Maple Leafs Betting Trends

The Toronto Maple Leafs are 20-14-0 straight up this year

The Toronto Maple Leafs are 16-15-0 against the over/under this season

Important Columbus Blue Jackets Betting Trends

The Columbus Blue Jackets are 20-13-0 straight up this year

The Columbus Blue Jackets are 15-17-0 against the over/under this season

Key Toronto Maple Leafs Injuries

12/18/17 RW Nikita Soshnikov Lower Body IR (12/11)
12/18/17 C Auston Matthews Hand is doubtful Tuesday vs Carolina
12/17/17 D Nikita Zaitsev Lower Body IR (12/16)
11/06/17 LW Joffrey Lupul Abdominal IR (10/03)

Key Columbus Blue Jackets Injuries

12/13/17 C Brandon Dubinsky Facial IR (12/12)
12/01/17 D Ryan Murray Upper Body IR (11/27)

Player Spotlight

Auston Matthews has accumulated 26 total points this season for the Maple Leafs. He has 13 goals this year with 80 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 16%. He has a total of 13 assists on the season and averages 18.6 minutes played per game. Nazem Kadri averages 16.6 minutes of ice time per game this year. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 16% by scoring 13 goals on 84 shots. He has 10 assists, giving him a total of 23 points on the season. Frederik Andersen has 17 wins and 10 losses this season in net for the Maple Leafs. He has 960 shots against him and he's given up 75 goals. He's made 885 saves for a save percentage of 92%.

Player Spotlight

Artemi Panarin has scored 28 total points this year for the Blue Jackets. He has 7 goals this season with 91 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 8%. He has a total of 21 assists on the season and averages 20 minutes played per game. Josh Anderson averages 17.8 minutes of ice time per game. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 13% by scoring 13 goals on 104 shots. He has 8 assists, giving him a total of 21 points on the season. Sergei Bobrovsky has 17 wins and 10 losses this year in goal for the Blue Jackets. He has 839 shots against him and he's surrendered 68 goals. He's made 771 saves for a save percentage of 92%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Maple Leafs have 41 total points this season, which ranks them 10th in the NHL. They are 5th in the league in goals scored with 109 while they've given up 97 goals, ranking them 18th overall. They have had 97 power play opportunities and have scored 20 goals on those chances for a percentage of 21%. That is 9th in the NHL. The Maple Leafs have allowed 105 power play opportunities and have given up 19 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 82%, putting them 14th in the league when short-handed. They average 30 shots per game and as a team shoot 10.63% for the season. They allow 34 shots to their opposition per contest and have a team save percentage of 92%. That puts them 7th in the league in stopping the puck.

Useful Team Statistics

The Blue Jackets are 9th in the NHL with a total of 41 points this year. They have 10 power play goals on 98 opportunities for a percentage of 10%. That ranks them 31st in the league as a power play unit. They've allowed 91 power play opportunities and have given up 16 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 82%. That is 11th in the NHL. As a team, the Blue Jackets are 18th in the league with 97 goals scored while they've given up 93 goals, which is 24th overall. They average 34 shots per contest and have a team shooting percentage of 8.34%. As a team they give up 31 shots per game and have a save percentage of 91%. That is 12th in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Toronto has a Corsi percentage of 49.3% as they've tried 2,010 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 2,068 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. That ranks them 20th in Corsi percentage. They are 25th in the NHL in Fenwick percentage with 47.8% as they have 1,465 shots while they've given up 1,601 attempts on defense. The Maple Leafs start possessions in the offensive zone 47.7% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 52.3% for the year. That puts them 27th and 7th in the league in zone percentages respectively. They have 1,092 face-off wins as opposed to 1,038 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 51.3%. That is 14th overall in the NHL. On defense Toronto has 728 hits and they've blocked 467 attempts from opposing offenses, which is 24th in the league.

Advanced Statistics

The Blue Jackets start possessions in the offensive zone 51.2% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 48.8% for the year. That ranks them 14th and 16th respectively in the NHL. They have 966 face-off wins as opposed to 1,065 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 47.6%. That is 27th in the league. On defense Columbus has 743 hits and they've blocked 498 attempts from opposing offenses, ranking them 13th in blocked shots. Columbus is ranked 7th in Corsi percentage with 51.8% as they've tried 2,034 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 1,893 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. Their Fenwick percentage is 3rd in the NHL at 52.9%, as they have 1,568 shots while they've given up 1,395 attempts on defense.

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

Tony's Pick: Take Columbus -110

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