Montreal Canadiens at Pittsburgh Penguins NHL Picks & Predictions 3/21/2018

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

PPG Paints Arena

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Montreal Canadiens head to PPG Paints Arena to take on the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday, March 21, 2018. The opening line for this contest has the Canadiens at +110 and the Penguins at -121.

Montreal has a record of 26-35-12 this year and away from home they have a record of 9-23-4-2. They are 5th in the Atlantic Division. They have tallied 182 goals and surrendered 232 goals for a point differential of -50. For the year they have an ATS mark of 26-47-0 and an over/under record of 31-40-0. Pittsburgh has a record of 41-26-5 including 26-8-1-0 on home ice this year. They are 2nd in the Metropolitan Division. They've scored 237 goals and have given up 218 for a goal differential of +19. Their record against the spread is 41-31-0 while their over/under mark is 40-30-0.

Valuable Montreal Canadiens Betting Trends

The Montreal Canadiens are 26-47-0 straight up this year

The Montreal Canadiens are 31-40-0 against the over/under this season

Important Pittsburgh Penguins Betting Trends

The Pittsburgh Penguins are 41-31-0 straight up this year

The Pittsburgh Penguins are 40-30-0 against the over/under this season

Key Montreal Canadiens Injuries

12/18/17 D Shea Weber Foot IR (12/17)
10/22/17 RW Ales Hemsky Concussion IR (10/20)
03/19/18 RW Andrew Shaw Head is "?" Wednesday vs Pittsburgh
03/19/18 D David Schlemko Upper Body is "?" Wednesday vs Pittsburgh
03/19/18 LW Phillip Danault Head is "?" Wednesday vs Pittsburgh
03/19/18 D Rinat Valiev Lower Body is "?" Wednesday vs Pittsburgh
03/05/18 LW Max Pacioretty Lower Body is out indefinitely
03/05/18 D Victor Mete Finger is out for season

Key Pittsburgh Penguins Injuries

03/19/18 GO Matt Murray Concussion is upgraded to available Tuesday vs NY Islanders
03/19/18 RW Phil Kessel Undisclosed is upgraded to probable Tuesday vs NY Islanders
03/17/18 RW Carter Rowney Upper Body is out indefinitely
03/10/18 C Dominik Simon Lower Body is out indefinitely
03/02/18 RW Zach Aston-Reese Upper Body is out indefinitely

Player Spotlight

Max Pacioretty has scored 37 total points this year for the Canadiens. He has 17 goals this season with 212 shots on net, giving him a shooting percentage of 8%. He has a total of 20 assists on the year and averages 19 minutes played per contest. Brendan Gallagher averages 15.8 minutes of ice time per game this season. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 11% by tallying 26 goals on 245 attempts. He has 18 assists, giving him a total of 44 points on the year. Carey Price has 15 wins and 22 losses this season in goal for the Canadiens. He has 1,296 shots against him and he's surrendered 124 goals. He's made 1,172 stops for a save percentage of 90%.

Player Spotlight

Sidney Crosby has 77 total points this season for the Penguins. He has 23 goals this year with 209 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 11%. He has a total of 54 assists on the year and averages 20.8 minutes played per contest. Phil Kessel averages 18.8 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 12% by scoring 29 goals on 234 attempts. He has 50 assists, giving him a total of 79 points on the year. Matt Murray has 23 wins and 13 losses this season in net for the Penguins. He has 1,159 shots against him and he's given up 106 goals. He's made 1,053 saves for a save percentage of 91%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Canadiens have 64 total points this year, which is 26th in the NHL. They've scored 182 goals while giving up 232 scores, which has them ranked 29th and 5th respectively. They have had 218 power play chances and scored 45 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 21%. That is 14th in the league. The Canadiens have given up 234 power play opportunities and surrendered 58 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 75%, ranking them 30th when short-handed. They average 33 shots per contest and as a team shoot 7.50% for the year. They allow 32 shot attempts to their opposition per game and have a team save percentage of 90%, which is 21st in the league.

Useful Team Statistics

The Penguins are 10th in the league with a total of 87 points this season. They have 59 power play goals on 229 chances for a percentage of 26%. That is 1st in the NHL. They've given up 234 power play opportunities and surrendered 46 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 80%, ranking 16th overall. As a team, the Penguins are 6th with a total of 237 goals scored while they've given up 218 goals this season, ranking 13th in goals against. They average 34 shots per game and have a team shooting percentage of 9.57%. As a unit they give up 31 shots per contest and have a save percentage of 90%, putting them 24th overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Montreal has a Corsi percentage of 49.9% as they've tried 4,508 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 4,520 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. That ranks them 17th in Corsi percentage. They are 17th in the NHL in Fenwick percentage with 50% as they have 3,284 shots while they've given up 3,285 attempts on defense. The Canadiens start possessions in the offensive zone 52.1% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 47.9% for the year. That puts them 10th and 21st in the league in zone percentages respectively. They have 2,147 face-off wins as opposed to 2,347 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 47.8%. That is 28th overall in the NHL. On defense Montreal has 1,899 hits and they've blocked 1,235 attempts from opposing offenses, which is 1st in the league.

Advanced Statistics

The Penguins are 11th in the league in starting possessions in the offensive zone, doing so 52.4% of the time. Their defensive zone percentage is at 47.6% for the season, which is 22nd in the NHL. They have 2,238 face-off wins compared to 2,235 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 50%. That is 17th in the league. On defense Pittsburgh has 1,727 hits and they have blocked 1,058 shots from the opposition, which is 17th in the league. Pittsburgh is 5th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 51.7% as they've attempted 4,362 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 4,082 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage of 52.4% ranks 7th as they have 3,329 attempts while they have given up 3,024 shots on the defensive end.

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

Guy's Pick: Take Montreal +110

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