Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Vancouver Canucks - 12/21/19 NHL Picks, Odds, and Prediction

Game: Pittsburgh Penguins vs Vancouver Canucks

Date: Saturday, December 21, 2019

Location: Rogers Arena in Vancouver, BC

TV: ATTP/CBC

Odds/Point Spread: Penguins (+100) Canucks (-110)

Total/Over-Under: 6

Jacob Markstrom and the Vancouver Canucks (17-15-4, 5th in the Pacific Division) host the Pittsburgh Penguins (20-10-4, 4th in the Metropolitan Division) at Rogers Arena on Saturday, December 21, 2019. The moneyline on this game has the Penguins priced at +100 and the Canucks are at -110. The O/U is set at 6. The Penguins cover 56.3% of the time, having gone 18-14 SU. The Canucks cover 42.4% of the time, going 14-19 straight up.

The Pittsburgh Penguins come into the game holding a record of 20 wins and 10 defeats, putting them at 4th in the Metropolitan Division. Thus far in the season, they have racked up a total of 112 goals which is 7th in the conference and 12th in the league. Their goal differential is +22, putting them at 5th in the league. The Penguins have earned a total of 44 points, which is 7th in the league and 5th in the East. With reference to shots on goal, they have earned a total of 1,146 which is 6th in the Eastern Conference and 10th in the league. As a group, Pittsburgh has compiled a total of 959 hits which has them averaging 28.2 per game. They have earned a total of 374 blocks for the season. Protecting the goal for Pittsburgh is Tristan Jarry from Surrey, British Columbia. He is 24 years old and has racked up 842 minutes defending the goal this season. Kinkaid is giving up an average of 1.85 goals against average which ranks him 2nd among Eastern Conference goaltenders and 2nd in the NHL. For the year, he's surrendered 26 goals. His save % is .940 which ranks him 2nd among Eastern Conference goaltenders.

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The Pittsburgh Penguins were on the right side of the scoreboard with a 4 - 1 victory against the Calgary Flames in their previous contest. The Penguins had a solid offensive output in the win. For this matchup, they earned a goal on 4 out of the 33 shots they looked to score on. Additionally, they had 3 power play attempts but weren't able to score. Pittsburgh had a total of 2 penalty mins in this outing. The Corsi for the Penguins was 48 and the Corsi against was 62 which gave them a Corsi percentage of 43.6%. Their Fenwick was 37 while the Fenwick against at even strength sat at 50, which means they had a rate of 42.5%. They earned 19 face-off wins and were beaten on 25 of the face-offs. Their starts in the offensive zone were rated at 43.3% and they had a PDO of 110.0 for this one. When it comes to their opponent, the Calgary Flames earned 34 shots. They finished with 6 penalty mins and they earned 1 power play chance.

The Canucks will be the team across the ice and for the season they sit with 17 victories and 15 defeats. In terms of goal differential, they rank 8th in the West and 17th in the NHL with +2. They currently have a total of 113 goals for this year which ranks 5th in the West. Vancouver has a save % as a team of .905 which has them 17th in the NHL, which tells us there should be some opportunities to score. They are shooting 9.7% which is good for 6th in the Western Conference. In goal for Vancouver is Jacob Markstrom who is having a marginal campaign by allowing 2.75 goals against average and that has him ranked 11th among Western Conference goalies and 24th in the NHL among goaltenders. In the 1,438 mins he's been on the ice, he has given up 66 goals. He has a save percentage of .914, which has him sitting 13th among Western Conference goalies and 23rd in the NHL among goaltenders.

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The Vancouver Canucks faced the Vegas Golden Knights in a game where the Canucks notched a win by a mark of 5 - 4. In their game, Vancouver wound up with a 36.9% Corsi rating. That percentage was had by earning a Corsi of 38 while their opponent earned a Corsi of 65. Their Fenwick rate came in at 42.9% by notching a Fenwick of 36 and the Golden Knights having a 48 Fenwick at even strength. This Corsi rating tells us the kind of game Vancouver played and we'd say they played well overall. Their PDO was 104.0 and they had an oZS percentage of 23.0%. The Canucks converted 5 goals of the 34 shots on goal they took. They had 5 power play opportunities in this outing and scored 1 out of those tries. Regarding the opposition, the Golden Knights had 1 power play chance but were not able to notch a goal. Vancouver gave up 43 shots on goal and the Golden Knights earned 14 minutes in the box.

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

Tony's Pick: Take Vancouver (-110)

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