Philadelphia Flyers at Columbus Blue Jackets NHL Picks & Predictions 10/18/2018

Thursday, October 18, 2018

Nationwide Arena

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Philadelphia Flyers head to Nationwide Arena to take on the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday, October 18, 2018. The opening line for this contest has the Flyers at +116 and the Blue Jackets at -150.

Philadelphia has a record of 3-3-0 this year. They are 5th in the Metropolitan Division. They've tallied 22 goals and surrendered 25 goals for a point differential of -3. For the year they have an ATS mark of 2-3-0 and an over/under record of 4-1-0. Columbus has a record of 3-2-0 this season. They are 3rd in the Metropolitan Division. They have scored 16 goals and given up 19 for a goal differential of -3. Their record against the spread is 3-2-0 while their over/under mark is 3-2-0.

Valuable Philadelphia Flyers Betting Trends

The Philadelphia Flyers are 2-3-0 straight up this year

The Philadelphia Flyers are 4-1-0 against the over/under this season

Important Columbus Blue Jackets Betting Trends

The Columbus Blue Jackets are 3-2-0 straight up this year

The Columbus Blue Jackets are 3-2-0 against the over/under this season

Key Philadelphia Flyers Injuries

10/11/18 C Nolan Patrick Upper Body is out indefinitely
10/08/18 LW James van Riemsdyk Lower Body is out indefinitely
10/03/18 D Samuel Morin Knee IR (10/03)
10/01/18 GO Michal Neuvirth None is out indefinitely
09/20/18 GO Alex Lyon Pelvis is out indefinitely

Key Columbus Blue Jackets Injuries

10/08/18 C Brandon Dubinsky None is OUT 4-6 weeks
09/26/18 D Seth Jones Knee is out indefinitely

Player Spotlight

Claude Giroux has scored 8 total points this year for the Flyers. He has 3 goals this season with 23 shots on net, giving him a shooting percentage of 13%. He has a total of 5 assists on the year and averages 20 minutes played per contest. Jakub Voracek averages 19.2 minutes of ice time per game this season. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 12% by tallying 2 goals on 17 attempts. He has 6 assists, giving him a total of 8 points on the year. Brian Elliott has 1 win and 3 losses this season in goal for the Flyers. He has 151 shots against him and he's surrendered 19 goals. He's made 132 stops for a save percentage of 87%.

Player Spotlight

Artemi Panarin has 7 total points this season for the Blue Jackets. He has 3 goals this year with 15 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 20%. He has a total of 4 assists on the year and averages 19.6 minutes played per contest. Cam Atkinson averages 18.2 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 10% by scoring 2 goals on 21 attempts. He has 2 assists, giving him a total of 4 points on the year. Sergei Bobrovsky has 1 win and 2 losses this season in net for the Blue Jackets. He has 93 shots against him and he's given up 13 goals. He's made 80 saves for a save percentage of 86%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Flyers have 6 total points this year, which is 16th in the NHL. They've scored 22 goals while giving up 25 scores, which has them ranked 5th and 2nd respectively. They have had 24 power play chances and scored 5 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 21%. That is 16th in the league. The Flyers have given up 25 power play opportunities and surrendered 7 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 72%, ranking them 25th when short-handed. They average 32 shots per contest and as a team shoot 11.46% for the year. They allow 32 shot attempts to their opposition per game and have a team save percentage of 87%, which is 30th in the league.

Useful Team Statistics

The Blue Jackets are 17th in the league with a total of 6 points this season. They have 4 power play goals on 23 chances for a percentage of 17%. That is 19th in the NHL. They've given up 17 power play opportunities and surrendered 6 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 65%, ranking 28th overall. As a team, the Blue Jackets are 18th with a total of 16 goals scored while they've given up 19 goals this season, ranking 12th in goals against. They average 34 shots per game and have a team shooting percentage of 9.41%. As a unit they give up 31 shots per contest and have a save percentage of 88%, putting them 28th overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Philadelphia is 19th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 48.8%, as they've attempted 340 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 357 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage is 49.4% as they have 262 attempts while they have given up 268 shots on the defensive end. That ranks them 15th in the league. The Flyers start possessions in the offensive zone 44.3% of the time, which is 27th in the league, while their defensive zone percentage is at 55.7% for the season. That is 5th overall in the NHL. They have 188 face-off wins compared to 166 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 53.1%. That ranks them 8th in the league. On defense Philadelphia has 154 hits and they have blocked 89 shots from the opposition, putting them 9th overall.

Advanced Statistics

The Blue Jackets are 7th in the league in starting possessions in the offensive zone, doing so 55.4% of the time. Their defensive zone percentage is at 44.6% for the season, which is 25th in the NHL. They have 165 face-off wins compared to 157 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 51.2%. That is 11th in the league. On defense Columbus has 60 hits and they have blocked 64 shots from the opposition, which is 23rd in the league. Columbus is 9th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 53% as they've attempted 300 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 266 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage of 53.8% ranks 9th as they have 235 attempts while they have given up 202 shots on the defensive end.

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

Josh's Pick: Take Columbus -150

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