New York Islanders vs. Boston Bruins - 12/19/19 NHL Picks, Odds, and Prediction

Game: New York Islanders vs Boston Bruins

Date: Thursday, December 19, 2019

Location: TD Garden in Boston, MA

TV: NESN/MSG+

Odds/Point Spread: Islanders (+151) Bruins (-167)

Total/Over-Under: 5.5

Tuukka Rask and the Boston Bruins (21-7-7, 1st in the Atlantic Division) host the New York Islanders (22-8-2, 2nd in the Metropolitan Division) at TD Garden on Thursday, December 19, 2019. The line on this contest has the Islanders coming in at +151 and the Bruins are at -167. The over/under opens at 5.5. The Islanders are covering 69.0% of the time, having gone 20-9 SU. Boston is covering 61.8% of the time, going 21-13 straight up.

The New York Islanders head into this game holding a record of 22 victories and 8 defeats, ranking them 2nd in the Metropolitan Division. During the year thus far, they have scored a total of 93 goals which ranks 13th in the Eastern Conference and 25th in the NHL. Their goal differential is +13, ranking them 7th in the NHL. The Islanders have compiled a total of 46 pts, which ranks 5th in the NHL and 3rd in the East. In discussing shots at the opposition, they have compiled a total of 904 which ranks 16th in the East and 31st in the NHL. As a unit, New York has racked up a total of 911 hits which means they are averaging 28.5 per contest. They have compiled a total of 465 blocks for this season. The goaltender for New York is Semyon Varlamov from Kuybyshev, USSR. He is 31 years old and has played a total of 1,012 mins in net this year. Varlamov is conceding an average of 2.37 GAA which has him ranked 5th among East goaltenders and 10th in the NHL. For the season, he has allowed 40 goals. He has a save % of .923 which has him ranked 6th among East goaltenders.

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The New York Islanders will look to clean up some issues after taking a 8 - 3 defeat to the Nashville Predators in their previous game. The Islanders had an average offensive performance in this loss. In this matchup, they finished 3 of the 30 shots they put on goal. Additionally, they had 2 power play chances and scored 1 goal out of those chances. New York earned a total of 34 penalty mins in their game. The Corsi for the Islanders was 58 and the Corsi against was 39 telling us they have a Corsi percentage of 59.8%. Their Fenwick was 35 while the Fenwick against sat at 28, telling us they have a rate of 55.6%. They earned 29 face-off wins at even strength and lost 24 of all total face-offs. The offensive zone starts for them came in at 50.3% and they had a PDO at even strength of 72.6 in this game. Concerning opponent stats, the Nashville Predators earned a total of 24 shots. They finished with a total of 18 penalty minutes and they earned 5 power play chances.

The Bruins are the team looking to add points to their total and for the campaign they sit with 21 victories and 7 losses. When discussing goal differential, they are ranked 1st in the Eastern Conference and 1st in the league with +32. They have compiled a total of 118 goals for the season which puts them at 2nd in the conference. Boston has a team save percentage of .921 which has them sitting 3rd in the league, which means chances to score may be limited. They have a team shooting percentage of 10.6% putting them at 4th in the Eastern Conference. In goal for Boston is Tuukka Rask who is having a marginal season by giving up 2.32 goals per contest and that has him ranked 4th in the East and 8th among goaltenders in the NHL. In the 1,270 minutes he's played this year, he has surrendered 49 goals. He holds a save percentage of .923, which places him at 7th in the East and 14th among goaltenders in the NHL.

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The Boston Bruins played the Los Angeles Kings in an outing where the Bruins took the defeat by a tally of 4 - 3. In this game, Boston wound up with a 57.7% Corsi rating. They got to that percentage by earning a Corsi of 56 while the opposition had a Corsi of 41. They earned a Fenwick percentage of 59.8% by earning a Fenwick of 49 and the Kings having a 33 Fenwick at even strength. This Corsi rating tells us the kind of game Boston had and you can say they had a mediocre outing. They had a PDO of 97.5 and their percentage of oZS was 45.9%. The Bruins converted 3 goals out of the 40 shots on goal they were seeking. They had 3 power play opportunities in this game and netted 1 out of those opportunities. As for their opponent, the Kings had 1 power play attempt and went on to score 1 goal. Boston gave way to 27 shots on goal and the Kings racked up a total of 6 minutes in the box.

Who will win tonight's NHL game ATS?

Guy's Pick: Take Boston (-167)

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