Florida Panthers at Columbus Blue Jackets NHL Picks & Predictions 3/22/2018

Thursday, March 22, 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 Thursday, March 22, 2018. The opening line for this contest has the Panthers at +100 and the Blue Jackets at -110.

Florida has a record of 37-27-7 this year and away from home they have a record of 15-16-4-1. They are 4th in the Atlantic Division. They have tallied 219 goals and surrendered 218 goals for a point differential of +1. For the year they have an ATS mark of 36-34-0 and an over/under record of 35-34-0. Columbus has a record of 41-28-5 including 24-11-2-1 on home ice this year. They are 3rd in the Metropolitan Division. They've scored 210 goals and have given up 206 for a goal differential of +4. Their record against the spread is 40-33-0 while their over/under mark is 34-38-0.

Valuable Florida Panthers Betting Trends

The Florida Panthers are 36-34-0 straight up this year

The Florida Panthers are 35-34-0 against the over/under this season

Important Columbus Blue Jackets Betting Trends

The Columbus Blue Jackets are 40-33-0 straight up this year

The Columbus Blue Jackets are 34-38-0 against the over/under this season

Key Florida Panthers Injuries

03/20/18 D Alex Petrovic Lower Body is "?" Thursday vs Columbus
03/20/18 C Vincent Trocheck Upper Body injured last game, is "?" Thursday vs Columbus

Key Columbus Blue Jackets Injuries

03/20/18 D Seth Jones Upper Body is "?" Thursday vs Florida
03/20/18 D Dean Kukan Upper Body is "?" Thursday vs Florida
02/27/18 RW Josh Anderson Knee is out indefinitely

Player Spotlight

Jonathan Huberdeau has scored 64 total points this year for the Panthers. He has 23 goals this season with 169 shots on net, giving him a shooting percentage of 14%. He has a total of 41 assists on the year and averages 19.3 minutes played per contest. Vincent Trocheck averages 21.4 minutes of ice time per game this season. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 11% by tallying 28 goals on 246 attempts. He has 38 assists, giving him a total of 66 points on the year. Roberto Luongo has 15 wins and 9 losses this season in goal for the Panthers. He has 956 shots against him and he's surrendered 69 goals. He's made 887 stops for a save percentage of 93%.

Player Spotlight

Seth Jones has 49 total points this season for the Blue Jackets. He has 14 goals this year with 234 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 6%. He has a total of 35 assists on the year and averages 24.6 minutes played per contest. Artemi Panarin averages 20.1 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 12% by scoring 25 goals on 210 attempts. He has 43 assists, giving him a total of 68 points on the year. Sergei Bobrovsky has 33 wins and 21 losses this season in net for the Blue Jackets. He has 1,799 shots against him and he's given up 143 goals. He's made 1,656 saves for a save percentage of 92%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Panthers have 81 total points this year, which is 19th in the NHL. They've scored 219 goals while giving up 218 scores, which has them ranked 14th and 16th respectively. They have had 217 power play chances and scored 42 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 19%. That is 21st in the league. The Panthers have given up 207 power play opportunities and surrendered 39 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 81%, ranking them 13th when short-handed. They average 35 shots per contest and as a team shoot 8.92% for the year. They allow 35 shot attempts to their opposition per game and have a team save percentage of 91%, which is 9th in the league.

Useful Team Statistics

The Blue Jackets are 11th in the league with a total of 87 points this season. They have 31 power play goals on 203 chances for a percentage of 15%. That is 30th in the NHL. They've given up 191 power play opportunities and surrendered 44 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 77%, ranking 25th overall. As a team, the Blue Jackets are 19th with a total of 210 goals scored while they've given up 206 goals this season, ranking 21st in goals against. They average 34 shots per game and have a team shooting percentage of 8.38%. As a unit they give up 31 shots per contest and have a save percentage of 91%, putting them 8th overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Florida has a Corsi percentage of 49.8% as they've tried 4,266 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 4,298 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. That ranks them 15th in Corsi percentage. They are 15th in the NHL in Fenwick percentage with 50.3% as they have 3,332 shots while they've given up 3,293 attempts on defense. The Panthers start possessions in the offensive zone 47.7% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 52.3% for the year. That puts them 30th and 4th in the league in zone percentages respectively. They have 2,318 face-off wins as opposed to 2,218 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 51.1%. That is 10th overall in the NHL. On defense Florida has 1,426 hits and they've blocked 1,005 attempts from opposing offenses, which is 26th in the league.

Advanced Statistics

The Blue Jackets start possessions in the offensive zone 52.8% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 47.2% for the year. That ranks them 5th and 26th respectively in the NHL. They have 2,147 face-off wins as opposed to 2,306 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 48.2%. That is 27th in the league. On defense Columbus has 1,591 hits and they've blocked 1,112 attempts from opposing offenses, ranking them 12th in blocked shots. Columbus is ranked 7th in Corsi percentage with 51.2% as they've tried 4,473 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 4,259 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. Their Fenwick percentage is 5th in the NHL at 52.4%, as they have 3,463 shots while they've given up 3,147 attempts on defense.

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

Guy's Pick: Take Florida +100

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