Washington Capitals at Columbus Blue Jackets NHL Picks & Predictions 2/26/2018

Monday, February 26, 2018

Nationwide Arena

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Washington Capitals head to Nationwide Arena to take on the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday, February 26, 2018. The opening line for this contest has the Capitals at +113 and the Blue Jackets at -125.

Washington has a record of 35-20-7 this year and away from home they have a record of 14-11-5-1. They are 1st in the Metropolitan Division. They have tallied 194 goals and surrendered 184 goals for a point differential of +10. For the year they have an ATS mark of 35-27-0 and an over/under record of 36-25-0. Columbus has a record of 31-26-5 including 18-11-2-1 on home ice this year. They are 5th in the Metropolitan Division. They've scored 163 goals and have given up 174 for a goal differential of -11. Their record against the spread is 31-31-0 while their over/under mark is 26-35-0.

Valuable Washington Capitals Betting Trends

The Washington Capitals are 35-27-0 straight up this year

The Washington Capitals are 36-25-0 against the over/under this season

Important Columbus Blue Jackets Betting Trends

The Columbus Blue Jackets are 31-31-0 straight up this year

The Columbus Blue Jackets are 26-35-0 against the over/under this season

Key Washington Capitals Injuries

No key injuries to report

Key Columbus Blue Jackets Injuries

02/20/18 D Markus Nutivaara Upper Body IR (02/16)
02/19/18 LW Nick Foligno Lower Body IR (02/18)
02/19/18 D Dean Kukan Upper Body IR (02/18)

Player Spotlight

Alex Ovechkin has scored 70 total points this year for the Capitals. He has 38 goals this season with 267 shots on net, giving him a shooting percentage of 14%. He has a total of 32 assists on the year and averages 19.9 minutes played per contest. Nicklas Backstrom averages 19.6 minutes of ice time per game this season. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 13% by tallying 15 goals on 115 attempts. He has 30 assists, giving him a total of 45 points on the year. Braden Holtby has 28 wins and 13 losses this season in goal for the Capitals. He has 1,414 shots against him and he's surrendered 128 goals. He's made 1,286 stops for a save percentage of 91%.

Player Spotlight

Artemi Panarin has 50 total points this season for the Blue Jackets. He has 17 goals this year with 171 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 10%. He has a total of 33 assists on the year and averages 20.4 minutes played per contest. Seth Jones averages 25 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 4% by scoring 8 goals on 202 attempts. He has 29 assists, giving him a total of 37 points on the year. Sergei Bobrovsky has 26 wins and 20 losses this season in net for the Blue Jackets. He has 1,553 shots against him and he's given up 125 goals. He's made 1,428 saves for a save percentage of 92%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Capitals have 77 total points this year, which is 7th in the NHL. They've scored 194 goals while giving up 184 scores, which has them ranked 8th and 15th respectively. They have had 184 power play chances and scored 40 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 22%. That is 7th in the league. The Capitals have given up 205 power play opportunities and surrendered 41 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 80%, ranking them 17th when short-handed. They average 29 shots per contest and as a team shoot 10.87% for the year. They allow 32 shot attempts to their opposition per game and have a team save percentage of 91%, which is 16th in the league.

Useful Team Statistics

The Blue Jackets are 19th in the league with a total of 67 points this season. They have 25 power play goals on 171 chances for a percentage of 15%. That is 30th in the NHL. They've given up 159 power play opportunities and surrendered 37 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 77%, ranking 25th overall. As a team, the Blue Jackets are 27th with a total of 163 goals scored while they've given up 174 goals this season, ranking 20th in goals against. They average 34 shots per game and have a team shooting percentage of 7.65%. As a unit they give up 31 shots per contest and have a save percentage of 91%, putting them 11th overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Washington is 26th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 47.7%, as they've attempted 3,441 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 3,769 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage is 46.9% as they have 2,538 attempts while they have given up 2,878 shots on the defensive end. That ranks them 30th in the league. The Capitals start possessions in the offensive zone 49.6% of the time, which is 20th in the league, while their defensive zone percentage is at 50.4% for the season. That is 18th overall in the NHL. They have 1,845 face-off wins compared to 1,835 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 50.1%. That ranks them 17th in the league. On defense Washington has 1,368 hits and they have blocked 891 shots from the opposition, putting them 18th overall.

Advanced Statistics

The Blue Jackets start possessions in the offensive zone 53.4% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 46.6% for the year. That ranks them 4th and 24th respectively in the NHL. They have 1,804 face-off wins as opposed to 1,968 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 47.8%. That is 26th in the league. On defense Columbus has 1,368 hits and they've blocked 931 attempts from opposing offenses, ranking them 13th in blocked shots. Columbus is ranked 5th in Corsi percentage with 51.5% as they've tried 3,779 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 3,558 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. Their Fenwick percentage is 3rd in the NHL at 52.7%, as they have 2,925 shots while they've given up 2,627 attempts on defense.

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

Tony's Pick: Take Washington +113

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