Columbus Blue Jackets at Washington Capitals NHL Picks & Predictions 4/21/2018

Saturday, April 21, 2018

Capital One Arena

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Columbus Blue Jackets head to Capital One Arena to take on the Washington Capitals on Saturday, April 21, 2018 in Game 5 of their 1st round series. The series is tied 2-2. The opening line for this contest has the Blue Jackets at +130 and the Capitals at -175.

Columbus had a record of 45-30-7 this 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 have an ATS mark of 47-39-0 and an over/under record of 43-42-0. Washington had a regular season record of 49-26-7 including 28-11-2-0 on home ice this year. They were 1st in the Metropolitan Division. They scored 259 goals and gave up 239 for a goal differential of +20. Their record against the spread is 51-35-0 while their over/under mark is 48-36-0.

Valuable Columbus Blue Jackets Betting Trends

The Columbus Blue Jackets are 47-39-0 straight up this year

The Columbus Blue Jackets are 43-42-0 against the over/under this season

Important Washington Capitals Betting Trends

The Washington Capitals are 51-35-0 straight up this year

The Washington Capitals are 48-36-0 against the over/under this season

Key Columbus Blue Jackets Injuries

04/19/18 C Alexander Wennberg Upper Body is "?" Saturday vs Washington
03/23/18 LW Lukas Sedlak Head is out indefinitely

Key Washington Capitals Injuries

04/19/18 LW Andre Burakovsky Upper Body is "?" Saturday vs Columbus

Player Spotlight

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

Player Spotlight

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

Useful Team Statistics

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

Useful Team Statistics

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

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?

Josh's Pick: Take Columbus +130

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