Columbus Blue Jackets at Detroit Red Wings NHL Picks & Predictions 10/4/2018

Thursday, October 4, 2018

Little Ceasars Arena

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Columbus Blue Jackets head to Little Ceasars Arena to take on the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday, October 4, 2018. The opening line for this contest has the Blue Jackets at -133 and the Red Wings at -111.

Columbus had a record of 45-30-7 last year and away from home they had a record of 19-18-4-3. They were 4th in the Metropolitan Division. They tallied 242 goals and surrendered 230 goals for a point differential of +12. For the year they had an ATS mark of 47-41-0 and an over/under record of 45-42-0. Detroit finished with a record of 30-39-13 including 8-16-4-0 on home ice last year. They were 5th in the Atlantic Division. They scored 217 goals and gave up 255 for a goal differential of -38. Their record against the spread was 30-52-0 while their over/under mark was 36-44-0.

Valuable Columbus Blue Jackets Betting Trends

The Columbus Blue Jackets were 47-41-0 straight up last year

The Columbus Blue Jackets were 45-42-0 against the over/under last season

Important Detroit Red Wings Betting Trends

The Detroit Red Wings were 30-52-0 straight up last year

The Detroit Red Wings were 36-44-0 against the over/under last season

Key Columbus Blue Jackets Injuries

10/01/18 D Ryan Murray Groin is questionable Thursday vs Detroit
10/01/18 D Scott Harrington Undisclosed is questionable Thursday vs Detroit
09/26/18 D Seth Jones Knee is out indefinitely

Key Detroit Red Wings Injuries

10/01/18 D Jonathan Ericsson Upper Body is doubtful Thursday vs Columbus
10/01/18 D Mike Green Illness IR (10/01)
10/01/18 D Trevor Daley Lower Body is questionable Thursday vs Columbus
09/30/18 D Niklas Kronwall Undisclosed is questionable Thursday vs Columbus

Player Spotlight

Seth Jones scored 57 total points last year for the Blue Jackets. He had 16 goals last season with 249 shots on net giving him a shooting percentage of 6%. He had a total of 41 assists on the year and averaged 24.6 minutes played per contest. Artemi Panarin averaged 20.1 minutes of ice time per game last season. In that time he had a shooting percentage of 12% by tallying 27 goals on 228 attempts. He had 55 assists giving him a total of 82 points on the year. Sergei Bobrovsky had 37 wins and 22 losses last season in goal for the Blue Jackets. He had 1,993 shots against him and he surrendered 158 goals. He made 1,835 stops for a save percentage of 92%.

Player Spotlight

Henrik Zetterberg had 56 total points last season for the Red Wings. He had 11 goals last year with 180 shots on goal giving him a shooting percentage of 6%. He had a total of 45 assists on the year and averaged 19.5 minutes played per contest. Anthony Mantha averaged 17.3 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he had a shooting percentage of 13% by scoring 24 goals on 190 attempts. He had 24 assists giving him a total of 48 points on the year. Jimmy Howard had 22 wins and 27 losses last season in net for the Red Wings. He had 1,770 shots against him and he gave up 160 goals. He made 1,610 saves for a save percentage of 91%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Blue Jackets had 97 total points last year, which was 14th in the NHL. They scored 242 goals while giving up 230 scores, which had them ranked 16th and 22nd respectively. They had 227 power play chances and scored 39 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 17%. That was 25th in the league. The Blue Jackets gave up 214 power play opportunities and surrendered 51 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 76%, ranking them 27th when short-handed. They averaged 34 shots per contest and as a team shot 8.76% for the year. They allowed 31 shot attempts to their opposition per game and had a team save percentage of 91%, which was 10th in the league.

Useful Team Statistics

The Red Wings were 26th in the league with a total of 73 points last season. They had 41 power play goals on 234 chances for a percentage of 18%. That was 24th in the NHL. They gave up 259 power play opportunities and surrendered 58 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 78%, ranking 23rd overall. As a team, the Red Wings were 28th with a total of 217 goals scored while they gave up 255 goals last season, ranking 11th in goals against. They averaged 30 shots per game and had a team shooting percentage of 8.71%. As a unit they gave up 32 shots per contest and had a save percentage of 90%, putting them 23rd overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Columbus was 9th in the league in Corsi percentage last season with 51.2%, as they tried 4,927 shots on net at full strength while giving up 4,699 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage was 52.2% as they had 3,804 attempts while they gave up 3,481 shots on the defensive end. That ranked them 6th in the NHL. The Blue Jackets started possessions in the offensive zone 52.9% of the time, which was 7th in the league, while their defensive zone percentage was at 47.1% for the season. That was 26th overall in the NHL. They had 2,400 face-off wins compared to 2,558 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage was 48.4%. That ranked them 26th in the league. On defense Columbus had 1,745 hits and they blocked 1,218 shots from the opposition, putting them 15th overall.

Advanced Statistics

Detroit was 20th in the NHL in Corsi percentage last year with 48.6%, as they attempted 4,498 shots on net at full strength while they gave up 4,766 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage was 49.1% as they had 3,468 attempts while they gave up 3,598 shots on the defensive end. That ranked them 20th in the league. The Red Wings started possessions in the offensive zone 49.7% of the time, which was 19th in the league, while their defensive zone percentage was at 50.3% for the season. That was 12th overall in the NHL. They had 2,447 face-off wins compared to 2,562 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage was 48.9%. That ranked them 22nd in the league. On defense Detroit had 1,606 hits and they blocked 1,168 shots from the opposition, putting them 24th overall.

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

Tony's Pick: Take Columbus -133

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