Columbus Blue Jackets vs. Boston Bruins - 1/2/20 NHL Picks, Odds, and Prediction

Game: Columbus Blue Jackets vs Boston Bruins

Date: Thursday, January 2, 2020

Location: TD Garden in Boston, MA

TV: NESN

Odds/Point Spread: Blue Jackets (+193) Bruins (-215)

Total/Over-Under: 6

Elvis Merzlikins and the Columbus Blue Jackets (18-14-8, 6th in the Metropolitan Division) travel to TD Garden on Thursday where they'll meet the Boston Bruins (24-7-10, 1st in the Atlantic Division). The line on this game has the Blue Jackets priced at +193 and the Bruins are at -215. The total opens at 6. The Blue Jackets are covering 45.0% of the time, having gone 18-22 SU. The Bruins are covering 58.5% of the time, going 24-17 straight up.

The Columbus Blue Jackets come into the game with a record of 18 wins and 14 losses, ranking them 6th in the Metropolitan Division. During the year thus far, they have racked up a total of 105 goals which has them ranked at 14th in the East and 27th in the league. Their goal differential is -5, ranking them 20th in the league. The Blue Jackets have compiled a total of 44 points, which has them ranked at 19th in the league and 10th in the East. With regard to shots on goal, they have compiled a total of 1,325 which has them ranked at 4th in the conference and 6th in the league. As a team, Columbus has collected a total of 753 hits which means they have an average of 18.8 per game. They have compiled a total of 514 blocks for the season. The man looking after the goal for Columbus is Elvis Merzlikins from Riga, Latvia. He is 25 years old and has totaled 535 minutes in goal for the year. Kinkaid is giving up 3.14 goals against average which ranks him 23rd in the Eastern Conference and 48th among goaltenders in the NHL. Over the course of this year, he has given up 28 goals. His save percentage is .900 which ranks him 25th in the Eastern Conference.

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The Columbus Blue Jackets were on the winning side of the scoreboard with a 4 - 1 victory over the Florida Panthers their last time out. The Blue Jackets had a good offensive outing in the win. For this game, they finished 4 of the 28 shots they put on net. Furthermore, they had 3 power play attempts and were able to notch 1 goal out of those tries. Columbus earned 6 penalty mins in their game. The Corsi for the Blue Jackets sat at 33 and the Corsi against was 63 which gave them a Corsi percentage of 34.4%. Their Fenwick sat at 26 and the Fenwick against was 41, which tells us they had a rate of 38.8%. They earned 17 face-off wins at even strength and were beaten on 25 of the face-offs. Their offensive zone starts were rated at 39.3% and they had a PDO of 110.2 for this one. In discussing stats from the opponent, the Florida Panthers put up 37 shots. They ended the game with 8 penalty mins and they tallied 2 power play attempts.

The Bruins are the team looking to add points to their total and for the season they sit with 24 wins and 7 losses. When it comes to goal differential, they rank 1st in the Eastern Conference and 1st in the league with +39. They currently have a total of 138 goals for the year which is good for 3rd in the conference. Boston has a team save % of .922 which is good for 2nd in the league, which means chances to score may be limited. They have a team shooting percentage of 10.8% which is good for 4th in the Eastern Conference. In goal for Boston is Tuukka Rask who is having a marginal campaign by giving up 2.31 goals per contest and that has him 5th among East goalies and 8th in the NHL among goaltenders. In the 1,454 minutes he's played, he has given up 56 goals. He has a save % of .923, which puts him at 4th among East goalies and 10th in the NHL among goaltenders.

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The Boston Bruins opposed the New Jersey Devils in a game where the Bruins were on the wrong end of the score by a tally of 3 - 2. While out there on the ice, Boston had a 44.3% Corsi rating. They earned that percentage by having a Corsi of 54 and the team opposite of them having a Corsi of 68. Their Fenwick rate came in at 42.6% with a Fenwick of 40 and the Devils ending the game with a 54 Fenwick. This Corsi rating tells us the kind of game Boston had and you could say that they have had better days on the ice. They had a PDO of 98.4 and they'll go home having earned an oZS percentage of 65.9%. The Bruins converted 2 goals of the 30 shots on goal they took. They had 3 power play chances in this outing and were able to notch 1 out of those attempts. In discussing the opposition, the Devils had 4 power play attempts but didn't tally a goal. Boston conceded 44 shots on goal and the Devils ended up with a total of 6 minutes in the box.

Who will win tonight's NHL game ATS?

Guy's Pick: Take Boston (-215)

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