Washington Capitals at Columbus Blue Jackets NHL Picks & Predictions 4/19/2018

Thursday, April 19, 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 Thursday, April 19, 2018 in Game 4 of their 1st round series. Columbus leads the series 2-1. The opening line for this contest has the Capitals at -107 and the Blue Jackets at -121.

Washington had a record of 49-26-7 this year and away from home they had a record of 21-15-5-1. They were 1st in the Metropolitan Division. They tallied 259 goals and surrendered 239 goals for a point differential of +20. For the year they have an ATS mark of 50-35-0 and an over/under record of 48-35-0. Columbus had a regular season record of 45-30-7 including 26-12-3-1 on home ice this year. They were 4th in the Metropolitan Division. They scored 242 goals and gave up 230 for a goal differential of +12. Their record against the spread is 47-38-0 while their over/under mark is 43-41-0.

Valuable Washington Capitals Betting Trends

The Washington Capitals are 50-35-0 straight up this year

The Washington Capitals are 48-35-0 against the over/under this season

Important Columbus Blue Jackets Betting Trends

The Columbus Blue Jackets are 47-38-0 straight up this year

The Columbus Blue Jackets are 43-41-0 against the over/under this season

Key Washington Capitals Injuries

04/17/18 LW Andre Burakovsky Upper Body is "?" Thursday vs Columbus

Key Columbus Blue Jackets Injuries

04/17/18 C Alexander Wennberg Upper Body is "?" Thursday vs Washington
03/23/18 LW Lukas Sedlak Head is out indefinitely

Player Spotlight

Evgeny Kuznetsov has scored 83 total points this year for the Capitals. He has 27 goals this season with 187 shots on net, giving him a shooting percentage of 14%. He has a total of 56 assists on the year and averages 18.8 minutes played per contest. Alex Ovechkin averages 20.1 minutes of ice time per game this season. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 14% by tallying 49 goals on 355 attempts. He has 38 assists, giving him a total of 87 points on the year. Braden Holtby has 34 wins and 16 losses this season in goal for the Capitals. He has 1,648 shots against him and he's surrendered 153 goals. He's made 1,495 stops for a save percentage of 91%.

Player Spotlight

Seth Jones has 57 total points this season for the Blue Jackets. He has 16 goals this year with 249 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 6%. He has a total of 41 assists on the year and averages 24.6 minutes played per contest. Artemi Panarin averages 20.1 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 12% by scoring 27 goals on 228 attempts. He has 55 assists, giving him a total of 82 points on the year. Sergei Bobrovsky has 37 wins and 22 losses this season in net for the Blue Jackets. He has 1,993 shots against him and he's given up 158 goals. He's made 1,835 saves for a save percentage of 92%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Capitals have 105 total points this year, which is 7th in the NHL. They've scored 259 goals while giving up 239 scores, which has them ranked 9th and 17th respectively. They have had 244 power play chances and scored 55 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 23%. That is 7th in the league. The Capitals have given up 269 power play opportunities and surrendered 53 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 80%, ranking them 15th when short-handed. They average 29 shots per contest and as a team shoot 10.89% 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 Blue Jackets are 14th in the league with a total of 97 points this season. They have 39 power play goals on 227 chances for a percentage of 17%. That is 25th in the NHL. They've given up 214 power play opportunities and surrendered 51 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 76%, ranking 26th overall. As a team, the Blue Jackets are 16th with a total of 242 goals scored while they've given up 230 goals this season, ranking 22nd in goals against. They average 34 shots per game and have a team shooting percentage of 8.76%. As a unit they give up 31 shots per contest and have a save percentage of 91%, putting them 10th overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Washington has a Corsi percentage of 47.4% as they've tried 4,479 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 4,980 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. That ranks them 31st in Corsi percentage. They are 31st in the NHL in Fenwick percentage with 47.3% as they have 3,381 shots while they've given up 3,760 attempts on defense. The Capitals start possessions in the offensive zone 49.7% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 50.3% for the year. That puts them 20th and 15th in the league in zone percentages respectively. They have 2,467 face-off wins as opposed to 2,427 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 50.4%. That is 18th overall in the NHL. On defense Washington has 1,784 hits and they've blocked 1,220 attempts from opposing offenses, which is 14th in the league.

Advanced Statistics

The Blue Jackets start possessions in the offensive zone 52.9% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 47.1% for the year. That ranks them 6th and 25th respectively in the NHL. They have 2,400 face-off wins as opposed to 2,558 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 48.4%. That is 27th in the league. On defense Columbus has 1,745 hits and they've blocked 1,218 attempts from opposing offenses, ranking them 15th in blocked shots. Columbus is ranked 8th in Corsi percentage with 51.2% as they've tried 4,927 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 4,699 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. Their Fenwick percentage is 5th in the NHL at 52.2%, as they have 3,804 shots while they've given up 3,481 attempts on defense.

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

Josh's Pick: Take Columbus -121

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