San Jose Sharks vs. Columbus Blue Jackets - 1/4/20 NHL Picks, Odds, and Prediction

Game: San Jose Sharks vs Columbus Blue Jackets

Date: Saturday, January 4, 2020

Location: Nationwide Arena in Columbus, OH

TV: FSOH/NSCA

Odds/Point Spread: Sharks (+120) Blue Jackets (-133)

Total/Over-Under: 6

Elvis Merzlikins and the Columbus Blue Jackets (19-14-8, 6th in the Metropolitan Division) play the San Jose Sharks (18-21-3, 6th in the Pacific Division) at Nationwide Arena on Saturday, January 4, 2020. The Blue Jackets open this game at -133 while the Sharks are priced at +120. The total opens at 6. The Sharks cover 40.0% of the time, having gone 16-24 SU. The Blue Jackets cover 46.3% of the time, going 19-22 straight up.

The San Jose Sharks step onto the ice with a record of 18 victories and 21 losses, putting them at 6th in the Pacific Division. Thus far in the season, they have earned a total of 110 goals which puts them at 12th in the West and 25th in the NHL. Their goal differential is -30, putting them at 29th in the NHL. The Sharks currently have a total of 39 points, which puts them at 26th in the NHL and 13th in the conference. When it comes to shots on goal, they currently have a total of 1,225 which puts them at 13th in the conference and 25th in the NHL. As a unit, San Jose has collected a total of 909 hits which has them averaging 21.6 per game. They currently have a total of 453 blocks for this season. The man protecting the goal for San Jose is Martin Jones from North Vancouver, British Columbia. He is 30 years old and has been on the ice a total of 1,705 minutes protecting the net for the season. Jones is giving up an average of 3.13 goals per contest which has him placed 26th among West goalies and 49th in the NHL among goalies. During this year, he has allowed 89 goals. His save % is .893 which has him placed 28th among West goalies.

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The San Jose Sharks will head into their next game feeling good after earning a 3 - 2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins in their previous game. The Sharks had an average offensive performance in the victory. In this game, they earned a goal on 3 out of the 32 shots they attempted. In addition, they had 2 power play chances and were able to score 1 goal out of those opportunities. San Jose earned a total of 4 penalty mins for this outing. The Corsi for the Sharks was 46 and the Corsi against was 58 which means they earned a Corsi percentage of 44.2%. Their Fenwick sat at 34 while the Fenwick against sat at 46, which means they had a rate of 42.5%. They took 31 face-off wins at even strength and lost 30 attempts to control the puck. Their starts in the offensive zone came in at 31.1% and they had a PDO of 100.6 for this matchup. In discussing stats from the opponent, the Pittsburgh Penguins racked up 38 shots. They finished with a total of 4 penalty mins and they earned a total of 2 power play attempts.

The Blue Jackets will be on the other side of the ice and for the year they sit with 19 victories and 14 losses. In connection with goal differential, they are currently ranked 12th in the conference and 20th in the NHL with -4. They currently have a total of 107 goals for the season which puts them at 14th in the East. Columbus has a save % as a team of .908 which currently has them ranked 9th in the NHL, which tells us scoring chances could present themselves. They have a shooting percentage of 7.9% putting them at 15th in the conference. In net for Columbus is Elvis Merzlikins who is having a rough year by surrendering 2.92 GAA and that ranks him 16th among Eastern Conference goaltenders and 32nd in the NHL among goalies. In the 596 mins he's been on the ice this year, he's surrendered 29 goals. His save % is .905, which puts him at 20th among Eastern Conference goaltenders and 39th in the NHL among goalies.

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The Columbus Blue Jackets played the Boston Bruins in an outing where the Blue Jackets notched a victory by a tally of 2 - 1. For this outing, Columbus wound up with a 44.3% Corsi rating. That percentage was had by having a Corsi of 39 while the opposition earned a Corsi of 49. They had a Fenwick percentage of 51.4% by earning a Fenwick of 37 and the Bruins earning a 35 Fenwick at even strength. This Corsi rating tells us the kind of game Columbus had and you can safely assume that they'll look to improve in their next outing. Their PDO was 106.9 and they'll go home having earned an oZS percentage of 56.5%. The Blue Jackets notched 2 goals out of the 33 shots on goal they took. They had 2 power play attempts in this one but didn't put one in the back of the net. On the other side of the ice, the Bruins had 2 power play opportunities and went on to score 1 goal. Columbus gave up 26 shots on goal and the Bruins had a total of 4 minutes in the box.

So what is Tonights Parlay prediction?

Parlays Pundit's Pick: Take Columbus (-133) and under the total goals

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