Columbus Blue Jackets at Washington Capitals NHL Picks & Predictions 4/15/2018

Sunday, April 15, 2018

Capital One Arena

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Columbus Blue Jackets travel to Capital One Arena to play the Washington Capitals on Sunday, April 15, 2018 in Game 2 of their 1st round series. Columbus leads the series 1-0. The opening line for this game has the Blue Jackets at +123 and the Capitals at -162.

Columbus has a record of 45-30-7 this season and on the road they have a record of 19-18-4-3. They are 4th in the Metropolitan Division. They've scored 242 goals and given up 230 goals for a point differential of +12. For the season they have an ATS record of 45-37-0 and an over/under record of 41-40-0. Washington has a record of 49-26-7 including 28-11-2-0 at home this season. They are 1st in the Metropolitan Division. They've scored 259 goals and surrendered 239 for a goal differential of +20. Their record against the spread is 49-33-0 while their over/under record is 46-34-0.

Valuable Columbus Blue Jackets Betting Trends

The Columbus Blue Jackets are 45-37-0 straight up this year

The Columbus Blue Jackets are 41-40-0 against the over/under this season

Important Washington Capitals Betting Trends

The Washington Capitals are 49-33-0 straight up this year

The Washington Capitals are 46-34-0 against the over/under this season

Key Columbus Blue Jackets Injuries

03/23/18 LW Lukas Sedlak Head is out indefinitely

Key Washington Capitals Injuries

04/12/18 RW Jay Beagle Upper Body is "?" Sunday vs Columbus

Player Spotlight

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%. Seth Jones has accumulated 57 total points this season for the Blue Jackets. He has 16 goals this year with 249 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 6%. He has a total of 41 assists on the season and averages 24.6 minutes played per game. Artemi Panarin averages 20.1 minutes of ice time per game this year. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 12% by scoring 27 goals on 228 shots. He has 55 assists, giving him a total of 82 points on the season.

Player Spotlight

Evgeny Kuznetsov has scored 83 total points this year for the Capitals. He has 27 goals this season with 187 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 14%. He has a total of 56 assists on the season and averages 18.8 minutes played per game. Braden Holtby has 34 wins and 16 losses this year in goal for the Capitals. He has 1,648 shots against him and he's surrendered 153 goals. He's made 1,495 saves for a save percentage of 91%. Alex Ovechkin averages 20.1 minutes of ice time per game. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 14% by scoring 49 goals on 355 shots. He has 38 assists, giving him a total of 87 points on the season.

Useful Team Statistics

The Blue Jackets have allowed 214 power play opportunities and have given up 51 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 76% this year. That is 26th in the NHL. They average 34 shots per game and as a team shoot 8.76% for the season. They allow 31 shots to their opposition per contest and have a team save percentage of 91%, which is ranked 10th in the league. The Blue Jackets has 97 total points this season, ranking 14th in the NHL in offense. They are 16th in the league with 242 goals while they've given up 230 goals, which is 22nd overall. They have had 227 power play opportunities and scored 39 goals on those chances for a percentage of 17%. That is 25th in the NHL.

Useful Team Statistics

As a team, the Capitals are 9th with 259 goals scored while they are 17th in the NHL with 239 goals allowed this year. They average 29 shots per contest and have a team shooting percentage of 10.89%. They give up 32 shots per game and have a save percentage of 91%, putting them in 17th place in the league. The Capitals have a total of 105 points this year, which is 7th in the NHL. They have 55 power play goals on 244 opportunities for a percentage of 23%. That ranks their power play unit 7th. They've allowed 269 power play opportunities and have given up 53 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 80%, which is 15th overall.

Advanced Statistics

Columbus has a Corsi percentage of 51.2% as they've tried 4,927 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 4,699 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. That ranks them 8th in Corsi percentage. They are 5th in the NHL in Fenwick percentage with 52.2% as they have 3,804 shots while they've given up 3,481 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 6th and 25th in the league in zone percentages respectively. They have 2,400 face-off wins as opposed to 2,558 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 48.4%. That is 27th overall in the NHL. On defense Columbus has 1,745 hits and they've blocked 1,218 attempts from opposing offenses, which is 15th in the league.

Advanced Statistics

The Capitals start possessions in the offensive zone 49.7% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 50.3% for the year. That ranks them 20th and 15th respectively in the NHL. They have 2,467 face-off wins as opposed to 2,427 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 50.4%. That is 18th in the league. On defense Washington has 1,784 hits and they've blocked 1,220 attempts from opposing offenses, ranking them 14th in blocked shots. Washington is ranked 31st in Corsi percentage with 47.4% as they've tried 4,479 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 4,980 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. Their Fenwick percentage is 31st in the NHL at 47.3%, as they have 3,381 shots while they've given up 3,760 attempts on defense.

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

Tony's Pick: Take Washington -162

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