Montreal Canadiens vs. Vancouver Canucks - 12/17/19 NHL Picks, Odds, and Prediction

Game: Montreal Canadiens vs Vancouver Canucks

Date: Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Location: Rogers Arena in Vancouver, BC

TV: TSN2/RSNP/RDS

Odds/Point Spread: Canadiens (+106) Canucks (-117)

Total/Over-Under: 6

Jacob Markstrom and the Vancouver Canucks (16-14-4, 5th in the Pacific Division) host the Montreal Canadiens (15-12-6, 4th in the Atlantic Division) at Rogers Arena on Tuesday, December 17, 2019. The line on this matchup has the Canadiens coming in at +106 and the Canucks are at -117. The over/under has been set at 6. The Canadiens are covering 41.9% of the time, having gone 13-18 SU. The Canucks are covering 41.9% of the time, going 13-18 straight up.

The Montreal Canadiens head into this game holding a record of 15 wins and 12 defeats, which puts them at 4th in the Atlantic Division. So far this year, they have converted a total of 103 goals which has them sitting at 9th in the East and 14th in the league. Their goal differential is -3, which puts them at 20th in the league. The Canadiens have earned a total of 36 pts, which has them sitting at 18th in the league and 9th in the conference. Regarding shots at the opposing goalie, they have earned a total of 1,155 which has them sitting at 1st in the Eastern Conference and 3rd in the league. As a unit, Montreal has a total of 869 hits which has them averaging 26.3 per game. They have earned a total of 400 blocks for the season. The goaltender for Montreal is Carey Price from Farmingville, New York. He is 32 years old and has totaled 1,521 mins defending the goal this season. Price is giving up 2.92 GAA which has him ranking 20th in the Eastern Conference and 37th in the NHL among goalies. Over the course of this year, he's given up 74 goals. He's earned a save % of .905 which has him ranking 21st in the Eastern Conference.

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The Montreal Canadiens will need a bounce back game after taking a 2 - 1 defeat to the Detroit Red Wings their last time out. The Canadiens had an offensive game that was below their expectations in this loss. For this game, they earned a goal on 1 of the 43 shots they attempted. Additionally, they had 1 power play opportunity but didn't get a goal. Montreal had 12 penalty minutes in their game. The Corsi for the Canadiens sat at 33 and the Corsi against was 17 which earned them a Corsi percentage of 66.0%. Their Fenwick was 22 and the Fenwick against was 12, which gave them a Fenwick percentage of 64.7%. They earned 8 face-off wins at even strength and were beaten on 12 tries to control the puck. Their starts in the offensive zone came in at 62.7% and they had a PDO of 90.0 for this matchup. With regard to the opposition's stats, the Detroit Red Wings racked up 20 shots. They finished with a total of 6 penalty mins and they notched 4 power play chances.

The Canucks will be on the other side of the ice and for the campaign they have 16 victories and 14 defeats. Regarding goal differential, they sit 7th in the conference and 16th in the NHL with +3. They have earned a total of 107 goals for this season which ranks 2nd in the West. Vancouver has a save percentage as a team of .905 which has them sitting 17th in the NHL, which means there should be some opportunities to score. They have a team shooting percentage of 9.8% putting them at 5th in the conference. In goal for Vancouver is Jacob Markstrom who is having a marginal campaign by giving up 2.68 goals per contest and that has him 9th among Western Conference goalies and 21st among goalies in the NHL. In the 1,319 minutes he's been on the ice this season, he's given up 59 goals. He holds a save percentage of .915, which has him sitting 11th among Western Conference goalies and 23rd among goalies in the NHL.

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The Vancouver Canucks went up against the Vegas Golden Knights in a matchup where the Canucks took the defeat by a tally of 6 - 3. For this game, Vancouver went home with a 41.1% Corsi rating. That percentage was had by earning a Corsi of 44 while the opposition had a Corsi of 63. They earned a Fenwick percentage of 42.9% by notching a Fenwick of 36 and the Golden Knights finishing with a 48 Fenwick at even strength. This Corsi percentage speaks to the kind of game that Vancouver played and you could say that they didn't play great, but weren't awful either. They had a PDO of 97.5 and they had an oZS percentage of 52.9%. The Canucks scored 3 goals of the 29 shots on goal they tried. They had 2 power play attempts in this game and netted 1 out of those attempts. Concerning the opposition, the Golden Knights had 4 power play chances and went on to score 2 goals. Vancouver conceded 46 shots on goal and the Golden Knights racked up a total of 8 penalty minutes.

Who will win tonight's NHL game ATS?

Josh's Pick: Take Montreal (+106)

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