Los Angeles Kings vs. Columbus Blue Jackets - 12/19/19 NHL Picks, Odds, and Prediction

Game: Los Angeles Kings vs Columbus Blue Jackets

Date: Thursday, December 19, 2019

Location: Nationwide Arena in Columbus, OH

TV: FSW

Odds/Point Spread: Kings (+129) Blue Jackets (-143)

Total/Over-Under: 5.5

Joonas Korpisalo and the Columbus Blue Jackets (14-14-6, 7th in the Metropolitan Division) play the Los Angeles Kings (15-18-3, 8th in the Pacific Division) at Nationwide Arena on Thursday, December 19, 2019. The Kings open this matchup at +129 while the Blue Jackets are priced at -143. The O/U has been set at 5.5. The Kings cover 40.0% of the time, having gone 14-21 SU. Columbus covers 39.4% of the time, going 13-20 straight up.

The Los Angeles Kings come into the game holding a record of 15 wins and 18 losses, ranking them 8th in the Pacific Division. So far this year, they have converted a total of 94 goals which ranks them 12th in the Western Conference and 24th in the league. Their goal differential is -19, ranking them 28th in the league. The Kings currently have a total of 33 pts, which ranks them 26th in the league and 13th in the conference. When it comes to shots at the opposition, they currently have a total of 1,219 which ranks them 2nd in the West and 2nd in the league. As a team, Los Angeles has racked up a total of 721 hits which has them averaging 20 per contest. They currently have a total of 397 blocks for the year. The man protecting the goal for Los Angeles is Jonathan Quick from Milford, Connecticut. He is 34 years old and has been on the ice a total of 1,435 mins protecting the goal this season. Quick is allowing 3.05 GAA which ranks him 25th among Western Conference goaltenders and 48th in the NHL among goalies. For the year, he has surrendered 73 goals. His save percentage is .893 which ranks him 29th among Western Conference goaltenders.

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The Los Angeles Kings were on the winning side of the scoreboard with a 4 - 3 victory over the Boston Bruins in their last contest. The Kings had a impressive offensive performance in this victory. For this game, they earned a goal on 4 out of the 27 shots they attempted. Furthermore, they had 1 power play chance and were able to score 1 goal on that opportunity. Los Angeles had a total of 6 penalty mins for this game. The Corsi for the Kings sat at 41 and the Corsi against was 56 which gave them a Corsi percentage of 42.3%. Their Fenwick sat at 33 while the Fenwick against was 49, which means they had a rate of 40.2%. They took 21 face-off wins and were beaten on 36 tries to control the puck. The offensive zone starts for them were rated at 54.1% and they had a PDO of 102.5 in this game. In terms of their opponent's stats, the Boston Bruins earned 40 shots. They finished with 2 penalty mins and they earned 3 power play chances.

The Blue Jackets will be looking to get a victory in this matchup and for the current year they have 14 victories and 14 defeats. In the matter of goal differential, they sit 13th in the conference and 23rd in the league with -13. They have earned a total of 87 goals for the season which has them at 14th in the East. Columbus has a save % as a team of .900 which has them sitting 24th in the league, which means there should be some opportunities to score. They have a team shooting percentage of 7.7% putting them at 16th in the East. In goal for Columbus is Joonas Korpisalo who is having an average year by giving up 2.64 goals per game and that ranks him 13th in the East and 21st among goalies in the NHL. In the 1,568 minutes he has played this season, he's given up 69 goals. His save percentage is .908, which has him ranked 19th in the East and 37th among goalies in the NHL.

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The Columbus Blue Jackets played the Detroit Red Wings in an outing where the Blue Jackets notched a victory by a tally of 5 - 3. For this outing, Columbus earned a 67.1% Corsi rating. That percentage was had by earning a Corsi of 53 and their opponent having a Corsi of 26. Their Fenwick rate came in at 66.2% with a Fenwick of 45 and the Red Wings finishing with a 23 Fenwick. These Corsi stats tell us the story of the kind of game Columbus played and they put on a good performance in this one. They had a PDO of 99.7 and they finished this one with an oZS percentage of 67.6%. The Blue Jackets scored 5 goals of the 39 shots on goal they were seeking. They had 2 power play opportunities in this game and netted 1 out of those opportunities. On the other side of the ice, the Red Wings had 3 power play attempts and were able to tally 1 goal. Columbus gave up 21 shots on goal and the Red Wings had 4 minutes in the box.

Who will win tonight's hockey game against the spread?

Josh's Pick: Take Los Angeles (+129)

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