Blue Jackets vs Rangers Predictions, Picks, Tips 1/19/2020

Game: Columbus Blue Jackets vs New York Rangers

Date: Sunday, January 19, 2020

Location: Madison Square Garden in New York City, NY

TV: MSG

Odds/Point Spread: Blue Jackets (-130) Rangers (+118)

Total/Over-Under: 6

Madison Square Garden is the site where Henrik Lundqvist and the New York Rangers (23-19-4, 7th in the Metropolitan Division) will play the Columbus Blue Jackets (24-16-8, 6th in the Metropolitan Division) on Sunday. The Blue Jackets open this game at -130 while the Rangers are priced at +118. The over/under opens at 6. The Blue Jackets are covering 50.0% of the time, having gone 24-24 SU. The Rangers are covering 50.0% of the time, going 23-23 straight up.

The Columbus Blue Jackets head into this game holding a record of 24 wins and 16 losses, putting them at 6th in the Metropolitan Division. So far this year, they have earned a total of 127 goals which is 13th in the East and 24th in the league. Their goal differential is +3, putting them at 15th in the league. The Blue Jackets have compiled a total of 56 pts, which is 14th in the league and 9th in the Eastern Conference. In the matter of shots at the opposing goalie, they have compiled a total of 1,530 which is 9th in the Eastern Conference and 14th in the league. As a team, Columbus has a total of 933 hits which has them averaging 19.4 per contest. They have compiled a total of 648 blocks for this season. The man looking after the net for Columbus is Elvis Merzlikins from Riga, Latvia. He is 25 years old and has played a total of 1,010 mins minding the net for the season. Merzlikins is conceding an average of 2.50 goals against average which has him sitting 8th in the East and 13th in the NHL among goaltenders. Over the course of this season, he has surrendered 42 goals. He has a save % of .922 which has him sitting 5th in the East.

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The Columbus Blue Jackets were on the winning side of the scoreboard with a 3 - 2 win against the Carolina Hurricanes the last time they stepped on the ice. The Blue Jackets had an average offensive outing in the win. For this game, they netted 3 out of the 18 shots they attempted. Moreover, they had 2 power play attempts but weren't able to score. Columbus earned 2 penalty mins for this outing. The Corsi for the Blue Jackets sat at 29 and the Corsi against was 67 which tells us they had a Corsi percentage of 30.2%. Their Fenwick sat at 22 and the Fenwick against sat at 43, meaning they had a rate of 33.8%. They won 23 face-off wins and lost 23 of all total face-offs. The offensive zone starts for them were rated at 40.0% and they had a PDO at even strength of 110.4 for this one. With regard to the opposition's stats, the Carolina Hurricanes racked up 34 shots. They had 4 penalty mins and they had 1 power play opportunity.

The Rangers are the team looking to add points to their total and for the campaign they sit with 23 victories and 19 losses. In discussing goal differential, they rank 9th in the East and 14th in the league with +4. They have compiled a total of 155 goals for this season which puts them at 7th in the conference. New York has a team save % of .906 which currently has them ranked 14th in the league, which tells us there should be some chances to score. They have a team shooting percentage of 11.3% which is good for 1st in the East. In net for New York is Henrik Lundqvist who is having a tough season by allowing 3.18 goals per contest and that has him ranked 26th among Eastern Conference goaltenders and 54th in the NHL. In the 1,416 mins he has played this season, he has surrendered 75 goals. He holds a save % of .907, which ranks him 17th among Eastern Conference goaltenders and 36th in the NHL.

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The New York Rangers went up against the New York Islanders in an outing where the Rangers ended up with the win by a tally of 3 - 2. For this game, New York had a 46.0% Corsi rating. They wound up with that percentage by having a Corsi of 40 and the other team having a Corsi of 47. They earned a Fenwick percentage of 40.3% by way of having a Fenwick of 27 and the Islanders having a 40 Fenwick at even strength. This Corsi rating tells us the kind of game New York had and it tells us they had an average game overall. They had a PDO of 98.5 and they had an oZS percentage of 18.7%. The Rangers scored 3 goals out of the 28 shots on goal they pursued. They had 5 power play opportunities in this outing and scored 2 out of those opportunities. As for the opposition, the Islanders had 5 power play chances but were not able to score a goal. New York gave up 40 shots on goal and the Islanders earned a total of 12 minutes in the box.

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

Josh's Pick: Take Columbus (-130)

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