Blue Jackets vs Canadiens Predictions, Picks, Betting Tips 2/2/2020

Game: Columbus Blue Jackets vs Montreal Canadiens

Date: Sunday, February 2, 2020

Location: Bell Centre in Montreal, QC

TV: RSN

Odds/Point Spread: Blue Jackets (-130) Canadiens (+110)

Total/Over-Under: 6

Bell Centre is the site where Carey Price and the Montreal Canadiens (23-22-7, 5th in the Atlantic Division) will take on the Columbus Blue Jackets (27-16-8, 4th in the Metropolitan Division) on Sunday. The odds on this contest have the Blue Jackets coming in at -130 and the Canadiens are at +110. The O/U has been set at 6. The Blue Jackets cover 52.9% of the time, having gone 27-24 SU. The Canadiens cover 40.8% of the time, going 20-29 straight up.

The Columbus Blue Jackets head into this game holding a record of 27 victories and 16 losses, which puts them at 4th in the Metropolitan Division. So far this year, they have converted a total of 138 goals which ranks 14th in the Eastern Conference and 24th in the league. Their goal differential is +10, which puts them at 11th in the league. The Blue Jackets have a total of 62 points, which ranks 7th in the league and 6th in the Eastern Conference. In connection with shots on goal, they have a total of 1,621 which ranks 8th in the East and 14th in the league. As a team, Columbus currently has a total of 1,003 hits which means they are averaging 19.7 per contest. They have a total of 694 blocks for this year. The goaltender for Columbus is Elvis Merzlikins from Riga, Latvia. He is 25 years old and has played 1,129 mins in net for the season. Merzlikins is conceding an average of 2.39 goals against average which has him sitting 5th among East goalies and 9th among goaltenders in the NHL. During this year, he's allowed 45 goals. He holds a save percentage of .926 which has him sitting 4th among East goalies.

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The Columbus Blue Jackets were on the winning side of the scoreboard with a 4 - 3 victory over the Winnipeg Jets in their last game. The Blue Jackets had a solid offensive output in this victory. For this outing, they converted 4 out of the 29 shots they tried. They also had 1 power play attempt and were able to score 1 goal on that try. Columbus ended up with 4 penalty minutes for this game. The Corsi for the Blue Jackets sat at 56 and the Corsi against was 54 telling us they have a Corsi percentage of 50.9%. Their Fenwick sat at 42 while the Fenwick against sat at 37, which gave them a Fenwick percentage of 53.2%. They took 36 face-off wins at even strength and were beaten on 25 of all total face-offs. The offensive zone starts for them came in at 51.9% and they had a PDO of 103.7 for this matchup. In terms of their opponent's stats, the Winnipeg Jets tallied 30 shots. They finished with a total of 2 minutes in the box and they notched 2 power play opportunities.

The Canadiens will be the team on the other side of the ice and for the season they sit with 23 wins and 22 defeats. When looking at goal differential, they are sitting 12th in the East and 20th in the NHL with -4. They have earned a total of 157 goals for this year which ranks 9th in the Eastern Conference. Montreal has a save % as a team of .902 which currently has them ranked 16th in the NHL, which tells us there should be some opportunities to score. They have a team shooting percentage of 8.7% putting them at 13th in the conference. In net for Montreal is Carey Price who is having an ok season by surrendering 2.80 goals per contest and that places him 15th in the Eastern Conference and 26th in the NHL among goaltenders. In the 2,482 mins he has played, he's allowed 116 goals. He's earned a save % of .909, which has him placed 16th in the Eastern Conference and 34th in the NHL among goaltenders.

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The Montreal Canadiens faced off against the Buffalo Sabres in an outing where the Canadiens notched a win by a tally of 3 - 1. For this outing, Montreal earned a 56.3% Corsi rating. That percentage was had by having a Corsi of 49 while the opposition earned a Corsi of 38. They earned a Fenwick percentage of 55.7% by way of having a Fenwick of 39 and the Sabres having a 31 Fenwick. These Corsi statistics are telling of the type of game that Montreal had and you can say they had a mediocre outing. They had a PDO of 110.0 and they finished the game with an oZS percentage of 42.9%. The Canadiens converted 3 goals out of the 30 shots on goal they attempted. They had 1 power play opportunity in this game but weren't able to notch a goal. Regarding the opposition, the Sabres had 3 power play opportunities and used that advantage to score 1 goal. Montreal gave way to 21 shots on goal and the Sabres racked up a total of 2 penalty minutes.

Who will win tonight's NHL game ATS?

Guy's Pick: Take Montreal (+110)

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