New Jersey Devils at Pittsburgh Penguins NHL Picks & Predictions 3/23/2018

Friday, March 23, 2018

PPG Paints Arena

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The New Jersey Devils head to PPG Paints Arena to take on the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday, March 23, 2018. The opening line for this contest has the Devils at +171 and the Penguins at -190.

New Jersey has a record of 37-28-8 this year and away from home they have a record of 19-14-5-3. They are 5th in the Metropolitan Division. They have tallied 219 goals and surrendered 221 goals for a point differential of -2. For the year they have an ATS mark of 37-36-0 and an over/under record of 36-35-0. Pittsburgh has a record of 42-27-5 including 27-8-1-0 on home ice this year. They are 2nd in the Metropolitan Division. They've scored 243 goals and have given up 225 for a goal differential of +18. Their record against the spread is 42-32-0 while their over/under mark is 41-31-0.

Valuable New Jersey Devils Betting Trends

The New Jersey Devils are 37-36-0 straight up this year

The New Jersey Devils are 36-35-0 against the over/under this season

Important Pittsburgh Penguins Betting Trends

The Pittsburgh Penguins are 42-32-0 straight up this year

The Pittsburgh Penguins are 41-31-0 against the over/under this season

Key New Jersey Devils Injuries

03/20/18 LW Miles Wood Upper Body is "?" Friday vs Pittsburgh
03/20/18 C Pavel Zacha Upper Body is "?" Friday vs Pittsburgh
01/25/18 LW Marcus Johansson Concussion IR (01/23)

Key Pittsburgh Penguins Injuries

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

Nico Hischier has scored 46 total points this year for the Devils. He has 16 goals this season with 161 shots on net, giving him a shooting percentage of 10%. He has a total of 30 assists on the year and averages 16.2 minutes played per contest. Taylor Hall averages 19.2 minutes of ice time per game this season. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 13% by tallying 32 goals on 240 attempts. He has 46 assists, giving him a total of 78 points on the year. Cory Schneider has 17 wins and 15 losses this season in goal for the Devils. He has 1,202 shots against him and he's surrendered 109 goals. He's made 1,093 stops for a save percentage of 91%.

Player Spotlight

Sidney Crosby has 79 total points this season for the Penguins. He has 24 goals this year with 217 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 11%. He has a total of 55 assists on the year and averages 20.7 minutes played per contest. Phil Kessel averages 18.7 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 12% by scoring 29 goals on 241 attempts. He has 53 assists, giving him a total of 82 points on the year. Matt Murray has 23 wins and 14 losses this season in net for the Penguins. He has 1,198 shots against him and he's given up 109 goals. He's made 1,089 saves for a save percentage of 91%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Devils have 82 total points this year, which is 18th in the NHL. They've scored 219 goals while giving up 221 scores, which has them ranked 15th and 14th respectively. They have had 228 power play chances and scored 46 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 20%. That is 18th in the league. The Devils have given up 237 power play opportunities and surrendered 43 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 82%, ranking them 10th when short-handed. They average 31 shots per contest and as a team shoot 9.60% for the year. They allow 32 shot attempts to their opposition per game and have a team save percentage of 91%, which is 17th in the league.

Useful Team Statistics

The Penguins are 10th in the league with a total of 89 points this season. They have 61 power play goals on 233 chances for a percentage of 26%. That is 1st in the NHL. They've given up 242 power play opportunities and surrendered 47 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 81%, ranking 16th overall. As a team, the Penguins are 4th with a total of 243 goals scored while they've given up 225 goals this season, ranking 13th in goals against. They average 35 shots per game and have a team shooting percentage of 9.52%. As a unit they give up 31 shots per contest and have a save percentage of 90%, putting them 25th overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

New Jersey is 22nd in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 48.5%, as they've attempted 4,064 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 4,324 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage is 49.1% as they have 3,147 attempts while they have given up 3,257 shots on the defensive end. That ranks them 20th in the league. The Devils start possessions in the offensive zone 49% of the time, which is 27th in the league, while their defensive zone percentage is at 51% for the season. That is 9th overall in the NHL. They have 2,107 face-off wins compared to 2,366 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 47.1%. That ranks them 30th in the league. On defense New Jersey has 1,636 hits and they have blocked 1,067 shots from the opposition, putting them 18th overall.

Advanced Statistics

The Penguins start possessions in the offensive zone 52.5% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 47.5% for the year. That ranks them 6th and 23rd respectively in the NHL. They have 2,310 face-off wins as opposed to 2,299 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 50.1%. That is 18th in the league. On defense Pittsburgh has 1,767 hits and they've blocked 1,090 attempts from opposing offenses, ranking them 15th in blocked shots. Pittsburgh is ranked 5th in Corsi percentage with 51.7% as they've tried 4,490 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 4,200 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. Their Fenwick percentage is 7th in the NHL at 52.4%, as they have 3,430 shots while they've given up 3,110 attempts on defense.

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

Guy's Pick: Take New Jersey +171

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