New Jersey Devils vs. Columbus Blue Jackets - 12/21/19 NHL Picks, Odds, and Prediction

Game: New Jersey Devils vs Columbus Blue Jackets

Date: Saturday, December 21, 2019

Location: Nationwide Arena in Columbus, OH

TV: MSG+

Odds/Point Spread: Devils (+109) Blue Jackets (-120)

Total/Over-Under: 6

MacKenzie Blackwood and the New Jersey Devils (11-17-5, 8th in the Metropolitan Division) are headed to Nationwide Arena on Saturday where they'll meet the Columbus Blue Jackets (15-14-6, 7th in the Metropolitan Division). The Devils open this game at +109 while the Blue Jackets are coming in at -120. The O/U opens at 6. The Devils cover 31.3% of the time, having gone 10-22 SU. The Blue Jackets cover 42.9% of the time, going 15-20 straight up.

The New Jersey Devils step onto the ice with a record of 11 victories and 17 losses, putting them at 8th in the Metropolitan Division. So far this year, they have earned a total of 79 goals which is good for 16th in the conference and 31st in the league. Their goal differential is -33, putting them at 30th in the league. The Devils have a total of 27 points, which is good for 30th in the league and 15th in the East. In connection with shots on goal, they have a total of 1,015 which is good for 14th in the Eastern Conference and 29th in the league. As a team, New Jersey currently has a total of 604 hits which has them averaging 18.3 per game. They have a total of 391 blocks for the season. Looking after the net for New Jersey is MacKenzie Blackwood from Vancouver, British Columbia. He is 23 years old and has racked up 1,408 minutes protecting the net this year. Blackwood is surrendering 2.77 GAA which ranks him 14th in the East and 26th in the NHL among goalies. For the year, he's surrendered 65 goals. He holds a save percentage of .910 which ranks him 14th in the East.

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The New Jersey Devils went home feeling good about their game by earning a 3 - 1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks in their last contest. The Devils had a middle of the road offensive output in this win. In this game, they netted 3 out of the 20 shots they put on net. Additionally, they had 4 power play attempts and netted 1 goal out of those opportunities. New Jersey had 9 penalty mins for this matchup. The Corsi for the Devils sat at 35 and the Corsi against was 47 telling us they have a Corsi percentage of 42.7%. Their Fenwick was 26 and the Fenwick against was 34, which means they earned a Fenwick percentage of 43.3%. They took 12 face-off wins at even strength and were beaten on 25 of the face-offs. Their offensive zone starts came in at 47.4% and they had a PDO of 107.6 for this one. In terms of their opponent's stats, the Anaheim Ducks tallied 27 shots. They had 13 penalty minutes and they earned 2 power play attempts.

The Blue Jackets will be looking to add points to their total and for the season they sit with 15 victories and 14 defeats. With reference to goal differential, they sit 13th in the East and 23rd in the NHL with -12. They have earned a total of 90 goals for this season which ranks 14th in the Eastern Conference. Columbus has a save percentage as a team of .900 which is good for 23rd in the NHL, which means there should be some chances to score. They have a team shooting percentage of 7.8% putting them at 15th in the conference. In net for Columbus is Joonas Korpisalo who is having an average year by surrendering 2.62 goals per contest and that places him 12th in the East and 19th among goalies in the NHL. In the 1,628 minutes he has played this year, he has given up 71 goals. He's earned a save percentage of .909, which puts him at 16th in the East and 34th among goalies in the NHL.

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The Columbus Blue Jackets opposed the Los Angeles Kings in a game where the Blue Jackets notched a victory by a score of 3 - 2. In this game, Columbus had a 54.7% Corsi rating. They got to that percentage by earning a Corsi of 47 while their opponent had a Corsi of 39. Their Fenwick rate came in at 51.6% by way of having a Fenwick of 32 and the Kings ending the game with a 30 Fenwick at even strength. This Corsi percentage speaks to the kind of game that Columbus had and it tells us they had an average game overall. Their PDO at even strength was 99.6 and they had an oZS percentage of 63.6%. The Blue Jackets notched 3 goals out of the 28 shots on goal they were seeking. They had 4 power play attempts in this game and scored 1 out of those chances. As for their opponent, the Kings had 2 power play opportunities but weren't able to put the puck in the net. Columbus conceded 25 shots on goal and the Kings had a total of 8 minutes in the box.

So what is Tonights Parlay prediction?

Parlays Pundit's Pick: Take Columbus (-120) and under the total goals

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