Florida Panthers at Columbus Blue Jackets NHL Picks & Predictions 1/7/2018

Sunday, January 7, 2018

Nationwide Arena

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Florida Panthers head to Nationwide Arena to take on the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday, January 7, 2018. The opening line for this contest has the Panthers at +149 and the Blue Jackets at -165.

Florida has a record of 17-18-5 this year and away from home they have a record of 7-12-2-0. They are 5th in the Atlantic Division. They have tallied 111 goals and surrendered 130 goals for a point differential of -19. For the year they have an ATS mark of 17-23-0 and an over/under record of 20-20-0. Columbus has a record of 23-16-3 including 14-7-0-0 on home ice this year. They are 3rd in the Metropolitan Division. They've scored 115 goals and have given up 117 for a goal differential of -2. Their record against the spread is 23-19-0 while their over/under mark is 19-22-0.

Valuable Florida Panthers Betting Trends

The Florida Panthers are 17-23-0 straight up this year

The Florida Panthers are 20-20-0 against the over/under this season

Important Columbus Blue Jackets Betting Trends

The Columbus Blue Jackets are 23-19-0 straight up this year

The Columbus Blue Jackets are 19-22-0 against the over/under this season

Key Florida Panthers Injuries

12/13/17 GO Roberto Luongo Lower Body IR (12/04)
01/05/18 RW Radim Vrbata Illness is "?" Sunday vs Columbus

Key Columbus Blue Jackets Injuries

12/25/17 C Alexander Wennberg Back IR (12/21)
12/25/17 RW Cam Atkinson Foot IR (12/23)
12/13/17 C Brandon Dubinsky Facial IR (12/12)
12/01/17 D Ryan Murray Upper Body IR (11/27)

Player Spotlight

Vincent Trocheck has scored 37 total points this year for the Panthers. He has 15 goals this season with 132 shots on net, giving him a shooting percentage of 11%. He has a total of 22 assists on the year and averages 21.6 minutes played per contest. Jonathan Huberdeau averages 20.1 minutes of ice time per game this season. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 13% by tallying 14 goals on 105 attempts. He has 24 assists, giving him a total of 38 points on the year. James Reimer has 11 wins and 11 losses this season in goal for the Panthers. He has 829 shots against him and he's surrendered 75 goals. He's made 754 stops for a save percentage of 91%.

Player Spotlight

Artemi Panarin has 34 total points this season for the Blue Jackets. He has 10 goals this year with 115 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 9%. He has a total of 24 assists on the year and averages 20.2 minutes played per contest. Josh Anderson averages 18.3 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 11% by scoring 14 goals on 127 attempts. He has 10 assists, giving him a total of 24 points on the year. Sergei Bobrovsky has 19 wins and 12 losses this season in net for the Blue Jackets. He has 1,030 shots against him and he's given up 83 goals. He's made 947 saves for a save percentage of 92%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Panthers have 39 total points this year, which is 26th in the NHL. They've scored 111 goals while giving up 130 scores, which has them ranked 24th and 8th respectively. They have had 123 power play chances and scored 19 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 15%. That is 27th in the league. The Panthers have given up 125 power play opportunities and surrendered 24 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 81%, ranking them 18th when short-handed. They average 34 shots per contest and as a team shoot 8.14% for the year. They allow 35 shot attempts to their opposition per game and have a team save percentage of 91%, which is 18th in the league.

Useful Team Statistics

The Blue Jackets are 11th in the league with a total of 49 points this season. They have 14 power play goals on 123 chances for a percentage of 11%. That is 31st in the NHL. They've given up 113 power play opportunities and surrendered 22 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 81%, ranking 20th overall. As a team, the Blue Jackets are 20th with a total of 115 goals scored while they've given up 117 goals this season, ranking 18th in goals against. They average 34 shots per game and have a team shooting percentage of 8.17%. As a unit they give up 31 shots per contest and have a save percentage of 91%, putting them 12th overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Florida has a Corsi percentage of 49.2% as they've tried 2,347 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 2,425 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. That ranks them 19th in Corsi percentage. They are 14th in the NHL in Fenwick percentage with 49.6% as they have 1,836 shots while they've given up 1,865 attempts on defense. The Panthers start possessions in the offensive zone 46.7% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 53.3% for the year. That puts them 28th and 2nd in the league in zone percentages respectively. They have 1,302 face-off wins as opposed to 1,263 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 50.8%. That is 10th overall in the NHL. On defense Florida has 804 hits and they've blocked 560 attempts from opposing offenses, which is 24th in the league.

Advanced Statistics

The Blue Jackets start possessions in the offensive zone 51% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 49% for the year. That ranks them 12th and 14th respectively in the NHL. They have 1,221 face-off wins as opposed to 1,333 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 47.8%. That is 26th in the league. On defense Columbus has 914 hits and they've blocked 624 attempts from opposing offenses, ranking them 11th in blocked shots. Columbus is ranked 10th in Corsi percentage with 51% as they've tried 2,471 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 2,376 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. Their Fenwick percentage is 6th in the NHL at 52.1%, as they have 1,908 shots while they've given up 1,752 attempts on defense.

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

Josh's Pick: Take Florida +149

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