Columbus Blue Jackets at Calgary Flames NHL Picks & Predictions 3/29/2018

Thursday, March 29, 2018

Scotiabank Saddledome

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Columbus Blue Jackets head to Scotiabank Saddledome to take on the Calgary Flames on Thursday, March 29, 2018. The opening line for this contest has the Blue Jackets at -125 and the Flames at +113.

Columbus has a record of 43-29-5 this year and away from home they have a record of 18-17-3-3. They are 3rd in the Metropolitan Division. They have tallied 222 goals and surrendered 211 goals for a point differential of +11. For the year they have an ATS mark of 43-34-0 and an over/under record of 36-40-0. Calgary has a record of 35-32-10 including 15-18-4-1 on home ice this year. They are 5th in the Pacific Division. They've scored 205 goals and have given up 234 for a goal differential of -29. Their record against the spread is 35-42-0 while their over/under mark is 37-38-0.

Valuable Columbus Blue Jackets Betting Trends

The Columbus Blue Jackets are 43-34-0 straight up this year

The Columbus Blue Jackets are 36-40-0 against the over/under this season

Important Calgary Flames Betting Trends

The Calgary Flames are 35-42-0 straight up this year

The Calgary Flames are 37-38-0 against the over/under this season

Key Columbus Blue Jackets Injuries

03/27/18 D Jack Johnson Upper Body is "?" Thursday vs Calgary
03/27/18 D Dean Kukan Upper Body is "?" Thursday vs Calgary
03/26/18 LW Nick Foligno Lower Body is out indefinitely
03/23/18 LW Lukas Sedlak Head is out indefinitely
02/27/18 RW Josh Anderson Knee is out indefinitely

Key Calgary Flames Injuries

03/28/18 LW Johnny Gaudreau Personal is out indefinitely
03/28/18 LW Matthew Tkachuk Upper Body is "?" Thursday vs Columbus
03/28/18 D T.J. Brodie Upper Body is "?" Thursday vs Columbus
03/23/18 RW Kris Versteeg Hip is out for season
03/23/18 C Sean Monahan Wrist is out for season
02/20/18 LW Marek Hrivik Undisclosed IR (02/16)

Player Spotlight

Artemi Panarin has scored 71 total points this year for the Blue Jackets. He has 26 goals this season with 219 shots on net, giving him a shooting percentage of 12%. He has a total of 45 assists on the year and averages 20 minutes played per contest. Seth Jones averages 24.5 minutes of ice time per game this season. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 6% by tallying 15 goals on 240 attempts. He has 35 assists, giving him a total of 50 points on the year. Sergei Bobrovsky has 35 wins and 22 losses this season in goal for the Blue Jackets. He has 1,885 shots against him and he's surrendered 148 goals. He's made 1,737 stops for a save percentage of 92%.

Player Spotlight

Sean Monahan has 64 total points this season for the Flames. He has 31 goals this year with 202 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 15%. He has a total of 33 assists on the year and averages 18.7 minutes played per contest. Johnny Gaudreau averages 19.5 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 10% by scoring 23 goals on 221 attempts. He has 59 assists, giving him a total of 82 points on the year. Mike Smith has 24 wins and 22 losses this season in net for the Flames. He has 1,650 shots against him and he's given up 139 goals. He's made 1,511 saves for a save percentage of 92%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Blue Jackets have 91 total points this year, which is 12th in the NHL. They've scored 222 goals while giving up 211 scores, which has them ranked 18th and 22nd respectively. They have had 212 power play chances and scored 32 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 15%. That is 30th in the league. The Blue Jackets have given up 200 power play opportunities and surrendered 45 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 78%, ranking them 24th when short-handed. They average 34 shots per contest and as a team shoot 8.54% for the year. They allow 31 shot attempts to their opposition per game and have a team save percentage of 91%, which is 6th in the league.

Useful Team Statistics

The Flames are 20th in the league with a total of 80 points this season. They have 42 power play goals on 256 chances for a percentage of 16%. That is 27th in the NHL. They've given up 250 power play opportunities and surrendered 48 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 81%, ranking 14th overall. As a team, the Flames are 26th with a total of 205 goals scored while they've given up 234 goals this season, ranking 13th in goals against. They average 34 shots per game and have a team shooting percentage of 7.90%. As a unit they give up 31 shots per contest and have a save percentage of 91%, putting them 20th overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Columbus has a Corsi percentage of 51.4% as they've tried 4,656 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 4,408 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. That ranks them 7th in Corsi percentage. They are 5th in the NHL in Fenwick percentage with 52.4% as they have 3,592 shots while they've given up 3,258 attempts on defense. The Blue Jackets start possessions in the offensive zone 52.8% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 47.2% for the year. That puts them 5th and 25th in the league in zone percentages respectively. They have 2,234 face-off wins as opposed to 2,399 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 48.2%. That is 27th overall in the NHL. On defense Columbus has 1,648 hits and they've blocked 1,150 attempts from opposing offenses, which is 12th in the league.

Advanced Statistics

The Flames are 4th in the league in starting possessions in the offensive zone, doing so 52.9% of the time. Their defensive zone percentage is at 47.1% for the season, which is 24th in the NHL. They have 2,348 face-off wins compared to 2,407 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 49.4%. That is 21st in the league. On defense Calgary has 1,552 hits and they have blocked 1,038 shots from the opposition, which is 27th in the league. Calgary is 3rd in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 52.6% as they've attempted 4,933 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 4,442 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage of 52.4% ranks 4th as they have 3,752 attempts while they have given up 3,404 shots on the defensive end.

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

Guy's Pick: Take Columbus -125

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