Chicago Blackhawks vs. Columbus Blue Jackets - 12/29/19 NHL Picks, Odds, and Prediction

Game: Chicago Blackhawks vs Columbus Blue Jackets

Date: Sunday, December 29, 2019

Location: Nationwide Arena in Columbus, OH

TV: NSCH/FSOH

Odds/Point Spread: Blackhawks (+122) Blue Jackets (-135)

Total/Over-Under: 6

Corey Crawford and the Chicago Blackhawks (16-17-6, 7th in the Central Division) go to Nationwide Arena on Sunday where they'll take on the Columbus Blue Jackets (17-14-7, 6th in the Metropolitan Division). The Blackhawks open this matchup at +122 while the Blue Jackets are priced at -135. The over/under has been set at 6. The Blackhawks cover 39.5% of the time, having gone 15-23 SU. Columbus is covering 44.7% of the time, going 17-21 straight up.

The Chicago Blackhawks head into this game holding a record of 16 victories and 17 defeats, putting them at 7th in the Central Division. So far this season, they have scored a total of 109 goals which ranks 9th in the Western Conference and 20th in the league. Their goal differential is -14, putting them at 25th in the league. The Blackhawks currently have a total of 38 points, which ranks 25th in the league and 12th in the West. Regarding shots at the opposing goalie, they currently have a total of 1,202 which ranks 8th in the West and 15th in the league. As a group, Chicago has collected a total of 887 hits which means they have an average of 22.7 per contest. They currently have a total of 504 blocks for the year. The goalie for Chicago is Corey Crawford from Montreal, Quebec. He is 35 years old and has played 1,142 minutes defending the net for the season. Crawford is surrendering an average of 3.20 goals per contest which has him sitting 27th in the West and 52nd in the NHL among goalies. Over the course of this year, he's surrendered 61 goals. He's earned a save percentage of .905 which has him sitting 20th in the West.

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The Chicago Blackhawks came out of this game feeling pretty good about themselves with a 5 - 2 victory over the New York Islanders in their previous game. The Blackhawks had a good offensive output in the victory. In this game, they earned a goal on 5 of the 30 shots they looked to score on. Moreover, they had 4 power play opportunities but weren't able to score. Chicago had a total of 14 penalty mins in this matchup. The Corsi for the Blackhawks was 50 and the Corsi against at even strength was 47 meaning they had a Corsi percentage of 51.5%. Their Fenwick was 34 while the Fenwick against sat at 35, which means they had a Fenwick percentage of 49.3%. They earned 26 face-off wins at even strength and lost 23 tries to control the puck. Their offensive zone starts were rated at 53.3% and they had a PDO of 115.3 in this game. With regard to the opposition's stats, the New York Islanders racked up a total of 40 shots. They had 18 minutes in the box and they tallied 2 power play chances.

The Blue Jackets will be the team on the other side of the ice and for the season they sit with 17 wins and 14 losses. In connection with goal differential, they are ranked 13th in the Eastern Conference and 22nd in the NHL with -8. They currently have a total of 99 goals for this season which is good for 14th in the Eastern Conference. Columbus has a save percentage as a team of .904 which is good for 17th in the NHL, which tells us scoring chances could present themselves. They have a team shooting percentage of 7.8% which puts them at 15th in the Eastern Conference. In goal for Columbus is Joonas Korpisalo who is having an average campaign by allowing 2.52 goals per contest and that places him 8th in the East and 14th among goaltenders in the NHL. In the 1,811 mins he has played, he has allowed 76 goals. He holds a save percentage of .913, which has him ranking 13th in the East and 26th among goaltenders in the NHL.

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The Columbus Blue Jackets squared up with the Washington Capitals in a matchup where the Blue Jackets were on the wrong end of the score by a final score of 2 - 1. In this matchup, Columbus went home with a 37.1% Corsi rating. They earned that percentage by having a Corsi of 39 and their opponent having a Corsi of 66. They earned a Fenwick percentage of 40.3% with a Fenwick of 31 and the Capitals ending the game with a 46 Fenwick. These Corsi stats speak to the kind of game that Columbus had and we'd say it was a below average outing in all. They had a PDO at even strength of 100.7 and their oZS percentage was 58.6%. The Blue Jackets scored 1 goal of the 28 shots on goal they took. They had 2 power play opportunities in this game but didn't score a goal. Concerning the opposition, the Capitals had 5 power play chances and were able to tally 1 goal. Columbus gave way to 36 shots on goal and the Capitals ended up with a total of 11 minutes in the box.

So what is Tonights Parlay prediction?

Parlays Pundit's Pick: Take Columbus (-135) and under the total goals

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