New York Rangers vs. Vancouver Canucks - 1/4/20 NHL Picks, Odds, and Prediction

Game: New York Rangers vs Vancouver Canucks

Date: Saturday, January 4, 2020

Location: Rogers Arena in Vancouver, BC

TV: MSG/CBC

Odds/Point Spread: Rangers (+153) Canucks (-170)

Total/Over-Under: 6.5

Jacob Markstrom and the Vancouver Canucks (22-15-4, 3rd in the Pacific Division) host the New York Rangers (19-17-4, 7th in the Metropolitan Division) at Rogers Arena on Saturday, January 4, 2020. The Canucks open this matchup at -170 while the Rangers are priced at +153. The over/under opens at 6.5. The Rangers cover 47.5% of the time, having gone 19-21 SU. Vancouver is covering 50.0% of the time, going 19-19 straight up.

The New York Rangers head into this game holding a record of 19 wins and 17 losses, ranking them 7th in the Metropolitan Division. During the year thus far, they have scored a total of 132 goals which has them at 8th in the East and 12th in the NHL. Their goal differential is -2, ranking them 19th in the NHL. The Rangers currently have a total of 42 points, which has them at 23rd in the NHL and 13th in the East. When discussing shots on goal, they currently have a total of 1,187 which has them at 14th in the Eastern Conference and 28th in the NHL. As a unit, New York has a total of 790 hits which has them averaging 19.8 per game. They currently have a total of 484 blocks for this season. The man looking after the goal for New York is Henrik Lundqvist from Fussen, West Germany. He is 37 years old and has been on the ice a total of 1,356 minutes defending the net this year. Lundqvist is giving up an average of 3.10 goals against average which has him ranking 23rd among East goalies and 47th in the NHL among goalies. For the year, he's allowed 70 goals. His save percentage is .910 which has him ranking 11th among East goalies.

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The New York Rangers were on the wrong end of the scoreboard with a 4 - 3 defeat to the Calgary Flames their last time out. The Rangers had an average offensive output in this loss. For this outing, they scored on 3 out of the 27 shots they attempted. Additionally, they had 3 power play chances and scored 2 goals out of those tries. New York earned 10 penalty mins in this game. The Corsi for the Rangers sat at 39 and the Corsi against was 36 which tells us they had a Corsi percentage of 52.0%. Their Fenwick was 32 while the Fenwick against sat at 28, which gave them a Fenwick percentage of 53.3%. They took 19 face-off wins at even strength and lost 17 attempts to control the puck. Their offensive zone starts came in at 63.8% and they had a PDO of 89.5 for this one. In discussing stats from the opponent, the Calgary Flames racked up 29 shots. They had a total of 8 penalty mins and they had 4 power play opportunities.

The Canucks will be on the other side of the ice and for the campaign they sit with 22 victories and 15 defeats. Regarding goal differential, they are ranked 3rd in the West and 9th in the league with +13. They have compiled a total of 136 goals for this year which has them at 3rd in the West. Vancouver has a save percentage as a team of .908 which has them sitting 11th in the league, meaning scoring chances could present themselves. They have a team shooting percentage of 10.5% ranking them 3rd in the conference. In goal for Vancouver is Jacob Markstrom who is having an ok year by surrendering 2.72 goals against average and that ranks him 8th among Western Conference goaltenders and 20th in the NHL. In the 1,677 mins he has been on the ice, he's surrendered 76 goals. His save percentage is .917, which has him ranked 9th among Western Conference goaltenders and 16th in the NHL.

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The Vancouver Canucks squared up with the Chicago Blackhawks in a game where the Canucks took home the victory by a mark of 7 - 5. In this outing, Vancouver went home with a 53.5% Corsi rating. They got to that percentage by earning a Corsi of 54 while their opponent had a Corsi of 47. Their Fenwick rate came in at 55.8% by notching a Fenwick of 43 and the Blackhawks ending the game with a 34 Fenwick. These Corsi statistics are telling of the type of game that Vancouver played and they looked good in this game. They had a PDO at even strength of 105.1 and they earned an oZS percentage of 66.4%. The Canucks scored 7 goals out of the 37 shots on goal they were seeking. They had 2 power play opportunities in this one and scored 1 out of those tries. In discussing their opponent, the Blackhawks had 4 power play chances and took advantage of the situation by scoring 1 goal. Vancouver allowed 33 shots on goal and the Blackhawks had 6 penalty mins.

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

Josh's Pick: Take New York (+153)

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