Colorado Avalanche vs. New Jersey Devils - 1/4/20 NHL Picks, Odds, and Prediction

Game: Colorado Avalanche vs New Jersey Devils

Date: Saturday, January 4, 2020

Location: Prudential Center in Newark, NJ

TV: Alt2/MSG

Odds/Point Spread: Avalanche (-175) Devils (+158)

Total/Over-Under: 6

Philipp Grubauer and the Colorado Avalanche (24-13-4, 2nd in the Central Division) travel to Prudential Center on Saturday where they'll take on the New Jersey Devils (15-19-6, 8th in the Metropolitan Division). The odds on this matchup have the Avalanche coming in at -175 and the Devils are at +158. The O/U has been set at 6. The Avalanche are covering 58.5% of the time, having gone 24-17 SU. The Devils are covering 34.2% of the time, going 13-25 straight up.

The Colorado Avalanche head into this matchup holding a record of 24 wins and 13 losses, which puts them at 2nd in the Central Division. So far this year, they have scored a total of 151 goals which has them sitting at 1st in the West and 2nd in the NHL. Their goal differential is +30, which puts them at 2nd in the NHL. The Avalanche have earned a total of 52 points, which has them sitting at 6th in the NHL and 2nd in the conference. When discussing shots on goal, they have earned a total of 1,352 which has them sitting at 3rd in the Western Conference and 7th in the NHL. As a group, Colorado has racked up a total of 717 hits which means they are averaging 17.5 per game. They have earned a total of 498 blocks for this year. Looking after the goal for Colorado is Philipp Grubauer from Rosenheim, Germany. He is 28 years old and has totaled 1,359 minutes minding the net for the season. Grubauer is conceding 2.91 goals against average which ranks him 16th among West goalies and 31st in the NHL. Over the course of this season, he has allowed 66 goals. He has a save % of .910 which ranks him 17th among West goalies.

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The Colorado Avalanche came out of this game feeling pretty good about themselves with a 7 - 3 victory against the St. Louis Blues in their last game. The Avalanche played really well in the win. For this game, they converted 7 of the 42 shots they looked to score on. In addition, they had 5 power play opportunities and were able to net 3 goals out of those attempts. Colorado had 6 penalty minutes in their game. The Corsi for the Avalanche was 51 and the Corsi against was 39 which earned them a Corsi percentage of 56.7%. Their Fenwick was 44 while the Fenwick against sat at 29, meaning they had a rate of 60.3%. They earned 34 face-off wins at even strength and lost 16 tries to control the puck. The offensive zone starts for them were rated at 46.7% and they had a PDO of 104.6 for this matchup. Regarding their opponent, the St. Louis Blues put up 27 shots. Their total at the end of the game was 10 penalty mins and they had 3 power play attempts.

The Devils will be on the other side of the ice and for the season they have 15 victories and 19 losses. With regard to goal differential, they are ranked 15th in the Eastern Conference and 30th in the NHL with -33. They have compiled a total of 102 goals for the season which ranks 15th in the Eastern Conference. New Jersey has a save percentage as a team of .891 which has them sitting 27th in the NHL, which means scoring chances could be plentiful if they attack the goal. They are shooting 8.2% ranking them 14th in the conference. In net for New Jersey is MacKenzie Blackwood who is having a marginal year by giving up 2.79 goals against average and that has him 13th among East goaltenders and 25th in the NHL. In the 1,764 mins he's played this season, he's given up 82 goals. He holds a save % of .909, which has him ranked 14th among East goaltenders and 31st in the NHL.

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The New Jersey Devils faced the New York Islanders in a matchup where the Devils ended up with the win by a tally of 2 - 1. For this outing, New Jersey wound up with a 53.5% Corsi rating. That percentage was had by having a Corsi of 68 while the opposition earned a Corsi of 59. They had a Fenwick percentage of 58.2% by earning a Fenwick of 53 and the Islanders ending the game with a 38 Fenwick at even strength. This Corsi percentage speaks to the kind of game that New Jersey played and it could be said that this team has had better games. Their PDO at even strength was 103.3 and they finished the game with an oZS percentage of 54.5%. The Devils converted 2 goals out of the 31 shots on goal they attempted. They had 2 power play opportunities in this one but didn't score a goal. In discussing the opposition, the Islanders had 2 power play opportunities but were not able to notch a goal. New Jersey allowed 30 shots on goal and the Islanders had a total of 6 minutes in the box.

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

Guy's Pick: Take New Jersey (+158)

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