Detroit Red Wings at Pittsburgh Penguins NHL Picks & Predictions 12/27/2018

Thursday, December 27, 2018

PPG Paints Arena

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Detroit Red Wings head to PPG Paints Arena to take on the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday, December 27, 2018. The opening line for this contest has the Red Wings at +220 and the Penguins at -370.

Detroit has a record of 15-17-6 this year. They are 7th in the Atlantic Division. They've tallied 109 goals and surrendered 126 goals for a point differential of -17. For the year they have an ATS mark of 15-22-0 and an over/under record of 17-18-0. Pittsburgh has a record of 18-12-6 this season. They are 3rd in the Metropolitan Division. They have scored 119 goals and given up 110 for a goal differential of +9. Their record against the spread is 18-18-0 while their over/under mark is 15-16-0.

Valuable Detroit Red Wings Betting Trends

The Detroit Red Wings are 15-22-0 straight up this year

The Detroit Red Wings are 17-18-0 against the over/under this season

Important Pittsburgh Penguins Betting Trends

The Pittsburgh Penguins are 18-18-0 straight up this year

The Pittsburgh Penguins are 15-16-0 against the over/under this season

Key Detroit Red Wings Injuries

12/23/18 LW Andreas Athanasiou Upper Body is questionable Thursday vs Pittsburgh
12/14/18 D Mike Green Ankle is out 3-5 weeks
12/06/18 D Danny DeKeyser Upper Body is out 4-6 weeks
12/05/18 RW Anthony Mantha Hand IR (12/05)
11/18/18 LW Darren Helm Upper Body is out indefinitely

Key Pittsburgh Penguins Injuries

12/23/18 D Jamie Oleksiak Head is questionable Thursday vs Detroit
10/15/18 D Justin Schultz Lower Body is out indefinitely

Player Spotlight

Andreas Athanasiou has scored 20 total points this year for the Red Wings. He has 11 goals this season with 93 shots on net, giving him a shooting percentage of 12%. He has a total of 9 assists on the year and averages 16.4 minutes played per contest. Dylan Larkin averages 21.8 minutes of ice time per game this season. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 11% by tallying 15 goals on 141 attempts. He has 21 assists, giving him a total of 36 points on the year. Jimmy Howard has 10 wins and 8 losses this season in goal for the Red Wings. He has 768 shots against him and he's surrendered 60 goals. He's made 708 stops for a save percentage of 92%.

Player Spotlight

Evgeni Malkin has 37 total points this season for the Penguins. He has 11 goals this year with 85 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 13%. He has a total of 26 assists on the year and averages 18.8 minutes played per contest. Phil Kessel averages 18.3 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 14% by scoring 14 goals on 98 attempts. He has 23 assists, giving him a total of 37 points on the year. Casey DeSmith has 11 wins and 6 losses this season in net for the Penguins. He has 700 shots against him and he's given up 52 goals. He's made 648 saves for a save percentage of 93%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Red Wings have 36 total points this year, which is 22nd in the NHL. They've scored 109 goals while giving up 126 scores, which has them ranked 18th and 3rd respectively. They have had 99 power play chances and scored 18 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 18%. That is 20th in the league. The Red Wings have given up 127 power play opportunities and surrendered 27 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 79%, ranking them 20th when short-handed. They average 29 shots per contest and as a team shoot 10.06% for the year. They allow 34 shot attempts to their opposition per game and have a team save percentage of 91%, which is 13th in the league.

Useful Team Statistics

The Penguins are 15th in the league with a total of 42 points this season. They have 22 power play goals on 101 chances for a percentage of 22%. That is 11th in the NHL. They've given up 106 power play opportunities and surrendered 17 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 84%, ranking 4th overall. As a team, the Penguins are 8th with a total of 119 goals scored while they've given up 110 goals this season, ranking 16th in goals against. They average 33 shots per game and have a team shooting percentage of 10.14%. As a unit they give up 33 shots per contest and have a save percentage of 91%, putting them 10th overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Detroit is 28th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 45.9%, as they've attempted 2,000 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 2,358 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage is 45.4% as they have 1,528 attempts while they have given up 1,839 shots on the defensive end. That ranks them 29th in the league. The Red Wings start possessions in the offensive zone 48% of the time, which is 27th in the league, while their defensive zone percentage is at 52% for the season. That is 5th overall in the NHL. They have 1,242 face-off wins compared to 1,171 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 51.5%. That ranks them 8th in the league. On defense Detroit has 808 hits and they have blocked 519 shots from the opposition, putting them 17th overall.

Advanced Statistics

The Penguins are 23rd in the league in starting possessions in the offensive zone, doing so 48.2% of the time. Their defensive zone percentage is at 51.8% for the season, which is 8th in the NHL. They have 1,109 face-off wins compared to 1,084 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 50.6%. That is 14th in the league. On defense Pittsburgh has 1,078 hits and they have blocked 531 shots from the opposition, which is 10th in the league. Pittsburgh is 16th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 49.7% as they've attempted 2,099 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 2,125 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage of 49.8% ranks 18th as they have 1,584 attempts while they have given up 1,594 shots on the defensive end.

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

Josh's Pick: Take Detroit +220

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