Vegas Golden Knights at Columbus Blue Jackets NHL Picks & Predictions 12/17/2018

Monday, December 17, 2018

Nationwide Arena

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Vegas Golden Knights head to Nationwide Arena to take on the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday, December 17, 2018. The opening line for this contest has the Golden Knights at +104 and the Blue Jackets at -115.

Vegas has a record of 18-14-2 this year. They are 5th in the Pacific Division. They've tallied 103 goals and surrendered 98 goals for a point differential of +5. For the year they have an ATS mark of 18-16-0 and an over/under record of 16-17-0. Columbus has a record of 17-12-3 this season. They are 2nd in the Metropolitan Division. They have scored 107 goals and given up 105 for a goal differential of +2. Their record against the spread is 17-15-0 while their over/under mark is 12-17-0.

Valuable Vegas Golden Knights Betting Trends

The Vegas Golden Knights are 18-16-0 straight up this year

The Vegas Golden Knights are 16-17-0 against the over/under this season

Important Columbus Blue Jackets Betting Trends

The Columbus Blue Jackets are 17-15-0 straight up this year

The Columbus Blue Jackets are 12-17-0 against the over/under this season

Key Vegas Golden Knights Injuries

12/14/18 LW Max Pacioretty Undisclosed is questionable Sunday vs NY Rangers
11/07/18 LW Erik Haula Knee is out indefinitely

Key Columbus Blue Jackets Injuries

No key injuries to report

Player Spotlight

William Karlsson has scored 26 total points this year for the Golden Knights. He has 13 goals this season with 69 shots on net, giving him a shooting percentage of 19%. He has a total of 13 assists on the year and averages 19.4 minutes played per contest. Jon Marchessault averages 19.1 minutes of ice time per game this season. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 10% by tallying 12 goals on 124 attempts. He has 14 assists, giving him a total of 26 points on the year. Marc-Andre Fleury has 18 wins and 10 losses this season in goal for the Golden Knights. He has 820 shots against him and he's surrendered 76 goals. He's made 744 stops for a save percentage of 91%.

Player Spotlight

Artemi Panarin has 34 total points this season for the Blue Jackets. He has 9 goals this year with 86 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 11%. He has a total of 25 assists on the year and averages 19.9 minutes played per contest. Cam Atkinson averages 19.3 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 15% by scoring 19 goals on 123 attempts. He has 15 assists, giving him a total of 34 points on the year. Sergei Bobrovsky has 12 wins and 10 losses this season in net for the Blue Jackets. He has 659 shots against him and he's given up 65 goals. He's made 594 saves for a save percentage of 90%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Golden Knights have 38 total points this year, which is 14th in the NHL. They've scored 103 goals while giving up 98 scores, which has them ranked 14th and 17th respectively. They have had 112 power play chances and scored 23 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 21%. That is 15th in the league. The Golden Knights have given up 101 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 32 shots per contest and as a team shoot 9.44% for the year. They allow 28 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 Blue Jackets are 15th in the league with a total of 37 points this season. They have 16 power play goals on 104 chances for a percentage of 15%. That is 24th in the NHL. They've given up 93 power play opportunities and surrendered 19 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 80%, ranking 15th overall. As a team, the Blue Jackets are 10th with a total of 107 goals scored while they've given up 105 goals this season, ranking 10th in goals against. They average 33 shots per game and have a team shooting percentage of 10.19%. As a unit they give up 30 shots per contest and have a save percentage of 89%, putting them 27th overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Vegas is 3rd in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 54.5%, as they've attempted 2,129 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 1,774 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage is 54% as they have 1,544 attempts while they have given up 1,317 shots on the defensive end. That ranks them 3rd in the league. The Golden Knights start possessions in the offensive zone 54% of the time, which is 6th in the league, while their defensive zone percentage is at 46% for the season. That is 26th overall in the NHL. They have 980 face-off wins compared to 1,050 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 48.3%. That ranks them 23rd in the league. On defense Vegas has 922 hits and they have blocked 457 shots from the opposition, putting them 17th overall.

Advanced Statistics

The Blue Jackets are 11th in the league in starting possessions in the offensive zone, doing so 52.2% of the time. Their defensive zone percentage is at 47.8% for the season, which is 21st in the NHL. They have 950 face-off wins compared to 1,006 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 48.6%. That is 21st in the league. On defense Columbus has 588 hits and they have blocked 448 shots from the opposition, which is 20th in the league. Columbus is 13th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 50.6% as they've attempted 1,822 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 1,782 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage of 52% ranks 9th as they have 1,445 attempts while they have given up 1,334 shots on the defensive end.

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

Guy's Pick: Take Vegas +104

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