Colorado Avalanche at St. Louis Blues NHL Picks & Predictions 12/14/2018

Friday, December 14, 2018

Enterprise Center

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Colorado Avalanche head to Enterprise Center to take on the St. Louis Blues on Friday, December 14, 2018. The opening line for this contest has the Avalanche at -132 and the Blues at +100.

Colorado has a record of 17-9-5 this year. They are 3rd in the Central Division. They've tallied 112 goals and surrendered 94 goals for a point differential of +18. For the year they have an ATS mark of 17-14-0 and an over/under record of 17-14-0. St. Louis has a record of 11-14-4 this season. They are 6th in the Central Division. They have scored 82 goals and given up 97 for a goal differential of -15. Their record against the spread is 11-18-0 while their over/under mark is 14-14-0.

Valuable Colorado Avalanche Betting Trends

The Colorado Avalanche are 17-14-0 straight up this year

The Colorado Avalanche are 17-14-0 against the over/under this season

Important St. Louis Blues Betting Trends

The St. Louis Blues are 11-18-0 straight up this year

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

Key Colorado Avalanche Injuries

12/13/18 C Alexander Kerfoot Undisclosed is questionable Friday vs St. Louis
12/11/18 C Vladislav Kamenev Shoulder is out indefinitely
10/04/18 D Conor Timmins Concussion is out indefinitely

Key St. Louis Blues Injuries

12/12/18 D Alex Pietrangelo Hand is questionable Friday vs Colorado
12/12/18 D Joel Edmundson Upper Body is questionable Friday vs Colorado
12/12/18 C Robby Fabbri Shoulder is questionable Friday vs Colorado
11/19/18 D Carl Gunnarsson Upper Body is out indefinitely
10/04/18 LW Erik Foley Concussion is out indefinitely

Player Spotlight

Nathan MacKinnon has scored 47 total points this year for the Avalanche. He has 20 goals this season with 132 shots on net, giving him a shooting percentage of 15%. He has a total of 27 assists on the year and averages 21.9 minutes played per contest. Mikko Rantanen averages 20.8 minutes of ice time per game this season. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 17% by tallying 13 goals on 75 attempts. He has 39 assists, giving him a total of 52 points on the year. Semyon Varlamov has 10 wins and 7 losses this season in goal for the Avalanche. He has 642 shots against him and he's surrendered 54 goals. He's made 588 stops for a save percentage of 92%.

Player Spotlight

Ryan O'Reilly has 29 total points this season for the Blues. He has 12 goals this year with 84 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 14%. He has a total of 17 assists on the year and averages 20.6 minutes played per contest. Vladimir Tarasenko averages 18.5 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 8% by scoring 9 goals on 112 attempts. He has 11 assists, giving him a total of 20 points on the year. Jake Allen has 9 wins and 8 losses this season in net for the Blues. He has 643 shots against him and he's given up 65 goals. He's made 578 saves for a save percentage of 90%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Avalanche have 39 total points this year, which is 8th in the NHL. They've scored 112 goals while giving up 94 scores, which has them ranked 5th and 16th respectively. They have had 101 power play chances and scored 30 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 30%. That is 2nd in the league. The Avalanche have given up 113 power play opportunities and surrendered 25 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 78%, ranking them 21st when short-handed. They average 31 shots per contest and as a team shoot 11.49% for the year. They allow 32 shot attempts to their opposition per game and have a team save percentage of 91%, which is 11th in the league.

Useful Team Statistics

The Blues are 29th in the league with a total of 26 points this season. They have 21 power play goals on 93 chances for a percentage of 23%. That is 11th in the NHL. They've given up 97 power play opportunities and surrendered 15 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 85%, ranking 4th overall. As a team, the Blues are 28th with a total of 82 goals scored while they've given up 97 goals this season, ranking 14th in goals against. They average 30 shots per game and have a team shooting percentage of 9.33%. As a unit they give up 31 shots per contest and have a save percentage of 89%, putting them 26th overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Colorado is 24th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 48%, as they've attempted 1,701 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 1,846 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage is 48.5% as they have 1,284 attempts while they have given up 1,361 shots on the defensive end. That ranks them 22nd in the league. The Avalanche start possessions in the offensive zone 52.8% of the time, which is 9th in the league, while their defensive zone percentage is at 47.2% for the season. That is 23rd overall in the NHL. They have 883 face-off wins compared to 996 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 47%. That ranks them 29th in the league. On defense Colorado has 604 hits and they have blocked 485 shots from the opposition, putting them 3rd overall.

Advanced Statistics

The Blues are 25th in the league in starting possessions in the offensive zone, doing so 48.2% of the time. Their defensive zone percentage is at 51.8% for the season, which is 6th in the NHL. They have 943 face-off wins compared to 830 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 53.2%. That is 2nd in the league. On defense St. Louis has 588 hits and they have blocked 461 shots from the opposition, which is 8th in the league. St. Louis is 23rd in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 48.3% as they've attempted 1,577 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 1,688 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage of 49% ranks 19th as they have 1,180 attempts while they have given up 1,227 shots on the defensive end.

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

Guy's Pick: Take Colorado -132

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