Pittsburgh Penguins at Carolina Hurricanes NHL Picks & Predictions 12/22/2018

Saturday, December 22, 2018

PNC Arena

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Pittsburgh Penguins head to PNC Arena to take on the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday, December 22, 2018. The opening line for this contest has the Penguins at -107 and the Hurricanes at -121.

Pittsburgh has a record of 17-12-6 this year. They are 3rd in the Metropolitan Division. They've tallied 116 goals and surrendered 110 goals for a point differential of +6. For the year they have an ATS mark of 16-18-0 and an over/under record of 15-14-0. Carolina has a record of 14-14-5 this season. They are 6th in the Metropolitan Division. They have scored 85 goals and given up 97 for a goal differential of -12. Their record against the spread is 14-18-0 while their over/under mark is 11-21-0.

Valuable Pittsburgh Penguins Betting Trends

The Pittsburgh Penguins are 16-18-0 straight up this year

The Pittsburgh Penguins are 15-14-0 against the over/under this season

Important Carolina Hurricanes Betting Trends

The Carolina Hurricanes are 14-18-0 straight up this year

The Carolina Hurricanes are 11-21-0 against the over/under this season

Key Pittsburgh Penguins Injuries

12/20/18 D Jamie Oleksiak Head is questionable Saturday vs Carolina
10/15/18 D Justin Schultz Lower Body is out indefinitely

Key Carolina Hurricanes Injuries

12/20/18 D Haydn Fleury Concussion is questionable Saturday vs Pittsburgh
12/10/18 GO Curtis McElhinney Lower Body is out indefinitely

Player Spotlight

Phil Kessel has scored 36 total points this year for the Penguins. He has 14 goals this season with 96 shots on net, giving him a shooting percentage of 15%. He has a total of 22 assists on the year and averages 18.5 minutes played per contest. Evgeni Malkin averages 18.9 minutes of ice time per game this season. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 13% by tallying 11 goals on 82 attempts. He has 26 assists, giving him a total of 37 points on the year. Casey DeSmith has 11 wins and 6 losses this season in goal for the Penguins. He has 700 shots against him and he's surrendered 52 goals. He's made 648 stops for a save percentage of 93%.

Player Spotlight

Teuvo Teravainen has 25 total points this season for the Hurricanes. He has 6 goals this year with 71 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 9%. He has a total of 19 assists on the year and averages 17.6 minutes played per contest. Sebastian Aho averages 19.5 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 12% by scoring 12 goals on 99 attempts. He has 22 assists, giving him a total of 34 points on the year. Petr Mrazek has 5 wins and 7 losses this season in net for the Hurricanes. He has 351 shots against him and he's given up 36 goals. He's made 315 saves for a save percentage of 90%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Penguins have 40 total points this year, which is 15th in the NHL. They've scored 116 goals while giving up 110 scores, which has them ranked 10th and 10th respectively. They have had 99 power play chances and scored 22 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 22%. That is 11th in the league. The Penguins have given up 102 power play opportunities and surrendered 17 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 83%, ranking them 6th when short-handed. They average 33 shots per contest and as a team shoot 10.16% for the year. They allow 33 shot attempts to their opposition per game and have a team save percentage of 91%, which is 12th in the league.

Useful Team Statistics

The Hurricanes are 24th in the league with a total of 33 points this season. They have 19 power play goals on 114 chances for a percentage of 17%. That is 22nd in the NHL. They've given up 101 power play opportunities and surrendered 20 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 80%, ranking 15th overall. As a team, the Hurricanes are 29th with a total of 85 goals scored while they've given up 97 goals this season, ranking 25th in goals against. They average 37 shots per game and have a team shooting percentage of 6.87%. As a unit they give up 28 shots per contest and have a save percentage of 90%, putting them 25th overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Pittsburgh is 16th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 49.9%, as they've attempted 2,043 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 2,049 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage is 50.1% as they have 1,543 attempts while they have given up 1,534 shots on the defensive end. That ranks them 16th in the league. The Penguins start possessions in the offensive zone 48.3% of the time, which is 23rd in the league, while their defensive zone percentage is at 51.7% for the season. That is 8th overall in the NHL. They have 1,074 face-off wins compared to 1,059 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 50.4%. That ranks them 14th in the league. On defense Pittsburgh has 1,058 hits and they have blocked 515 shots from the opposition, putting them 10th overall.

Advanced Statistics

The Hurricanes are 1st in the league in starting possessions in the offensive zone, doing so 58.1% of the time. Their defensive zone percentage is at 41.9% for the season, which is 31st in the NHL. They have 1,055 face-off wins compared to 978 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 51.9%. That is 5th in the league. On defense Carolina has 913 hits and they have blocked 408 shots from the opposition, which is 31st in the league. Carolina is 1st in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 57.6% as they've attempted 2,328 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 1,712 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage of 57.3% ranks 1st as they have 1,749 attempts while they have given up 1,304 shots on the defensive end.

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

Tony's Pick: Take Pittsburgh -107

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