Columbus Blue Jackets at Vancouver Canucks NHL Picks & Predictions 3/31/2018

Saturday, March 31, 2018

Rogers Arena

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Columbus Blue Jackets travel to Rogers Arena to play the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday, March 31, 2018. The opening line for this game has the Blue Jackets at -220 and the Canucks at +197.

Columbus has a record of 44-29-5 this season and on the road they have a record of 19-17-3-3. They are 3rd in the Metropolitan Division. They've scored 227 goals and given up 212 goals for a point differential of +15. For the season they have an ATS record of 44-34-0 and an over/under record of 37-40-0. Vancouver is 29-40-9 including 14-18-6-1 at home this season. They are 7th in the Pacific Division. They've scored 203 goals and surrendered 249 for a goal differential of -46. Their record against the spread is 29-49-0 while their over/under record is 42-36-0.

Valuable Columbus Blue Jackets Betting Trends

The Columbus Blue Jackets are 44-34-0 straight up this year

The Columbus Blue Jackets are 37-40-0 against the over/under this season

Important Vancouver Canucks Betting Trends

The Vancouver Canucks are 29-49-0 straight up this year

The Vancouver Canucks are 42-36-0 against the over/under this season

Key Columbus Blue Jackets Injuries

03/29/18 D Jack Johnson Upper Body is "?" Saturday vs Vancouver
03/29/18 D Dean Kukan Upper Body is "?" Saturday vs Vancouver
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 Vancouver Canucks Injuries

03/30/18 LW Brendan Leipsic Upper Body is "?" Saturday vs Columbus
03/29/18 D Christopher Tanev Knee is out for season
03/20/18 D Ben Hutton Foot is out indefinitely
03/17/18 LW Loui Eriksson Ribs is out indefinitely
03/17/18 LW Sven Baertschi Shoulder is out indefinitely
03/15/18 D Erik Gudbranson Shoulder is out for season
03/08/18 RW Brock Boeser Back is out indefinitely
02/09/18 C Brendan Gaunce Foot IR (02/07)
02/09/18 C Markus Granlund Ankle IR (02/07)

Player Spotlight

Artemi Panarin has accumulated 73 total points this season for the Blue Jackets. He has 26 goals this year with 220 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 12%. He has a total of 47 assists on the season and averages 20 minutes played per game. Seth Jones averages 24.5 minutes of ice time per game this year. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 6% by scoring 15 goals on 242 shots. He has 35 assists, giving him a total of 50 points on the season. Sergei Bobrovsky has 36 wins and 22 losses this season in net for the Blue Jackets. He has 1,923 shots against him and he's given up 149 goals. He's made 1,774 saves for a save percentage of 92%.

Player Spotlight

Daniel Sedin has scored 52 total points this year for the Canucks. He has 21 goals this season with 170 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 12%. He has a total of 31 assists on the season and averages 15.1 minutes played per game. Brock Boeser averages 17.5 minutes of ice time per game. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 16% by scoring 29 goals on 179 shots. He has 26 assists, giving him a total of 55 points on the season. Jacob Markstrom has 22 wins and 26 losses this year in goal for the Canucks. He has 1,687 shots against him and he's surrendered 147 goals. He's made 1,540 saves for a save percentage of 91%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Blue Jackets have 93 total points this season, which ranks them 11th in the NHL. They are 17th in the league in goals scored with 227 while they've given up 212 goals, ranking them 24th overall. They have had 215 power play opportunities and have scored 33 goals on those chances for a percentage of 15%. That is 30th in the NHL. The Blue Jackets have allowed 202 power play opportunities and have given up 45 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 78%, putting them 24th in the league when short-handed. They average 34 shots per game and as a team shoot 8.63% for the season. They allow 31 shots to their opposition per contest and have a team save percentage of 92%. That puts them 6th in the league in stopping the puck.

Useful Team Statistics

The Canucks are 28th in the NHL with a total of 67 points this year. They have 51 power play goals on 237 opportunities for a percentage of 22%. That ranks them 10th in the league as a power play unit. They've allowed 265 power play opportunities and have given up 56 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 79%. That is 21st in the NHL. As a team, the Canucks are 28th in the league with 203 goals scored while they've given up 249 goals, which is 5th overall. They average 30 shots per contest and have a team shooting percentage of 8.70%. As a team they give up 32 shots per game and have a save percentage of 90%. That is 26th in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Columbus has a Corsi percentage of 51.2% as they've tried 4,703 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 4,481 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 52.3% as they have 3,629 shots while they've given up 3,315 attempts on defense. The Blue Jackets start possessions in the offensive zone 52.7% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 47.3% for the year. That puts them 5th and 25th in the league in zone percentages respectively. They have 2,265 face-off wins as opposed to 2,424 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 48.3%. That is 27th overall in the NHL. On defense Columbus has 1,656 hits and they've blocked 1,166 attempts from opposing offenses, which is 11th in the league.

Advanced Statistics

The Canucks start possessions in the offensive zone 49.2% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 50.8% for the year. That ranks them 27th and 11th respectively in the NHL. They have 2,295 face-off wins as opposed to 2,353 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 49.4%. That is 24th in the league. On defense Vancouver has 1,665 hits and they've blocked 1,083 attempts from opposing offenses, ranking them 25th in blocked shots. Vancouver is ranked 25th in Corsi percentage with 48.2% as they've tried 4,233 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 4,558 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. Their Fenwick percentage is 26th in the NHL at 47.9%, as they have 3,191 shots while they've given up 3,475 attempts on defense.

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

Josh's Pick: Take Vancouver +197

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