Columbus Blue Jackets at Nashville Predators NHL Picks & Predictions 4/7/2018

Saturday, April 7, 2018

Bridgestone Arena

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Columbus Blue Jackets travel to Bridgestone Arena to play the Nashville Predators on Saturday, April 7, 2018. The opening line for this game has the Blue Jackets at +131 and the Predators at -145.

Columbus has a record of 45-29-7 this season and on the road they have a record of 19-17-4-3. They are 3rd in the Metropolitan Division. They've scored 240 goals and given up 226 goals for a point differential of +14. For the season they have an ATS record of 45-36-0 and an over/under record of 40-40-0. Nashville is 52-18-11 including 27-9-4-3 at home this season. They are 1st in the Central Division. They've scored 263 goals and surrendered 209 for a goal differential of +54. Their record against the spread is 52-29-0 while their over/under record is 40-40-0.

Valuable Columbus Blue Jackets Betting Trends

The Columbus Blue Jackets are 45-36-0 straight up this year

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

Important Nashville Predators Betting Trends

The Nashville Predators are 52-29-0 straight up this year

The Nashville Predators are 40-40-0 against the over/under this season

Key Columbus Blue Jackets Injuries

04/05/18 D Markus Nutivaara Illness is "?" Saturday vs Nashville
03/26/18 LW Nick Foligno Lower Body is out indefinitely
03/23/18 LW Lukas Sedlak Head is out indefinitely

Key Nashville Predators Injuries

03/16/18 C Calle Jarnkrok Upper Body is out indefinitely

Player Spotlight

Artemi Panarin has accumulated 82 total points this season for the Blue Jackets. He has 27 goals this year with 228 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 12%. He has a total of 55 assists on the season and averages 20.1 minutes played per game. Seth Jones averages 24.6 minutes of ice time per game this year. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 6% by scoring 16 goals on 249 shots. He has 41 assists, giving him a total of 57 points on the season. Sergei Bobrovsky has 37 wins and 22 losses this season in net for the Blue Jackets. He has 1,993 shots against him and he's given up 158 goals. He's made 1,835 saves for a save percentage of 92%.

Player Spotlight

Kevin Fiala has scored 48 total points this year for the Predators. He has 23 goals this season with 183 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 13%. He has a total of 25 assists on the season and averages 15.1 minutes played per game. P.K. Subban averages 24.1 minutes of ice time per game. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 8% by scoring 16 goals on 205 shots. He has 43 assists, giving him a total of 59 points on the season. Pekka Rinne has 41 wins and 13 losses this year in goal for the Predators. He has 1,817 shots against him and he's surrendered 133 goals. He's made 1,684 saves for a save percentage of 93%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Blue Jackets have 97 total points this season, which ranks them 13th in the NHL. They are 15th in the league in goals scored with 240 while they've given up 226 goals, ranking them 22nd overall. They have had 226 power play opportunities and have scored 39 goals on those chances for a percentage of 17%. That is 24th in the NHL. The Blue Jackets have allowed 209 power play opportunities and have given up 49 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 77%, putting them 25th in the league when short-handed. They average 34 shots per game and as a team shoot 8.79% for the season. They allow 31 shots to their opposition per contest and have a team save percentage of 91%. That puts them 9th in the league in stopping the puck.

Useful Team Statistics

The Predators are 1st in the NHL with a total of 115 points this year. They have 56 power play goals on 269 opportunities for a percentage of 21%. That ranks them 14th in the league as a power play unit. They've allowed 298 power play opportunities and have given up 54 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 82%. That is 6th in the NHL. As a team, the Predators are 7th in the league with 263 goals scored while they've given up 209 goals, which is 29th overall. They average 32 shots per contest and have a team shooting percentage of 10.06%. As a team they give up 32 shots per game and have a save percentage of 92%. That is 2nd in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Columbus has a Corsi percentage of 51.2% as they've tried 4,876 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 4,643 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. That ranks them 8th in Corsi percentage. They are 6th in the NHL in Fenwick percentage with 52.2% as they have 3,763 shots while they've given up 3,440 attempts on defense. The Blue Jackets start possessions in the offensive zone 52.9% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 47.1% for the year. That puts them 5th and 24th in the league in zone percentages respectively. They have 2,381 face-off wins as opposed to 2,522 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 48.6%. That is 21st overall in the NHL. On defense Columbus has 1,726 hits and they've blocked 1,203 attempts from opposing offenses, which is 15th in the league.

Advanced Statistics

The Predators are 23rd in the league in starting possessions in the offensive zone, doing so 48.8% of the time. Their defensive zone percentage is at 51.2% for the season, which is 9th in the NHL. They have 2,717 face-off wins compared to 2,393 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 53.2%. That is 2nd in the league. On defense Nashville has 1,642 hits and they have blocked 1,194 shots from the opposition, which is 16th in the league. Nashville is 11th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 50.5% as they've attempted 4,828 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 4,736 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage of 50.8% ranks 13th as they have 3,657 attempts while they have given up 3,542 shots on the defensive end.

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

Josh's Pick: Take Nashville -145

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