Colorado Avalanche vs. Montreal Canadiens - 12/5/19 NHL Pick, Odds, and Prediction

Game: Colorado Avalanche vs Montreal Canadiens

Date: Thursday, December 5, 2019

Location: Bell Centre in Montreal, QC

TV: Alti/TSN2/RDS

Odds/Point Spread: Avalanche (-125) Canadiens (+113)

Total/Over-Under: 6

Philipp Grubauer and the Colorado Avalanche (16-8-2, 3rd in the Central Division) head to Bell Centre on Thursday where they'll meet the Montreal Canadiens (12-10-6, 4th in the Atlantic Division). The Canadiens open this contest at +113 while the Avalanche are priced at -125. The total opens at 6. The Avalanche cover 61.5% of the time, having gone 16-10 SU. Montreal covers 38.5% of the time, going 10-16 straight up.

The Colorado Avalanche head into this matchup holding a record of 16 victories and 8 losses, which puts them at 3rd in the Central Division. Thus far in the season, they have converted a total of 97 goals which puts them at 1st in the West and 3rd in the NHL. Their goal differential is +22, which puts them at 3rd in the NHL. The Avalanche currently have a total of 34 points, which puts them at 9th in the NHL and 5th in the West. in respect to shots at the opposition, they currently have a total of 838 which puts them at 11th in the conference and 23rd in the NHL. As a team, Colorado currently has a total of 340 hits which has them averaging 13.1 per contest. They currently have a total of 280 blocks for the season. Looking after the net for Colorado is Philipp Grubauer from Rosenheim, Germany. He is 28 years old and has played 922 mins protecting the goal for the year. Grubauer is conceding an average of 2.86 goals per game which has him placed 18th among West goaltenders and 31st among goaltenders in the NHL. So far this season, he has allowed 44 goals. He holds a save % of .911 which has him placed 15th among West goaltenders.

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The Colorado Avalanche were on the right side of the scoreboard with a 7 - 3 win against the Chicago Blackhawks the last time they stepped on the ice. The Avalanche had a solid offensive output in this victory. While out there on the ice, they converted 7 of the 29 shots they put on net. Furthermore, they had 4 power play attempts and scored 1 goal out of those attempts. Colorado racked up 17 penalty mins in their game. The Corsi for the Avalanche sat at 27 and the Corsi against was 27 which tells us they had a Corsi percentage of 50.0%. Their Fenwick was 24 while the Fenwick against at even strength sat at 15, meaning they had a Fenwick percentage of 61.5%. They took 23 face-off wins at even strength and were beaten on 19 of all total face-offs. Their offensive zone starts came in at 29.2% and they had a PDO at even strength of 118.9 for this matchup. Concerning opponent stats, the Chicago Blackhawks earned a total of 29 shots. They ended the game with 13 penalty mins and they earned a total of 6 power play opportunities.

The Canadiens will be the team across the ice and for the year they have 12 victories and 10 defeats. Regarding goal differential, they are ranked 12th in the East and 21st in the league with -6. They currently have a total of 91 goals for the year which ranks 6th in the conference. Montreal has a team save % of .891 which currently has them ranked 25th in the league, meaning scoring chances could be plentiful if they are aggressive. They have a shooting percentage of 9.2% putting them at 12th in the Eastern Conference. In goal for Montreal is Carey Price who is having a tough year by allowing 3.13 goals per game and that has him 17th among East goaltenders and 40th among goalies in the NHL. In the 1,343 minutes he has been on the ice this season, he has given up 70 goals. He holds a save percentage of .899, which has him placed 19th among East goaltenders and 39th among goalies in the NHL.

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The Montreal Canadiens played the New York Islanders in a game where the Canadiens earned a win by a mark of 4 - 2. For this outing, Montreal had a 58.1% Corsi rating. They earned that percentage by having a Corsi of 54 while their opponent had a Corsi of 39. They earned a Fenwick percentage of 66.7% by way of having a Fenwick of 40 and the Islanders finishing with a 20 Fenwick at even strength. These Corsi stats speak to the kind of game that Montreal had and it was an excellent showing for this outing. Their PDO at even strength was 98.2 and they earned an oZS percentage of 69.7%. The Canadiens converted 4 goals out of the 40 shots on goal they were seeking. They had 1 power play chance in this outing but weren't able to score a goal. As for the opposition, the Islanders had 3 power play opportunities but weren't able to put the puck in the net. Montreal gave up 23 shots on goal and the Islanders had a total of 2 penalty mins.

Who will win tonight's NHL game ATS?

Josh's Pick: Take Montreal (+113)

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