Blue Jackets vs Sharks Predictions, Picks, Tips 1/9/2020

Game: Columbus Blue Jackets vs San Jose Sharks

Date: Thursday, January 9, 2020

Location: SAP Center in San Jose, CA

TV: FSOH/NSCA

Odds/Point Spread: Blue Jackets (+109) Sharks (-120)

Total/Over-Under: 5.5

SAP Center is the venue where Martin Jones and the San Jose Sharks (19-22-4, 6th in the Pacific Division) will take on the Columbus Blue Jackets (21-15-8, 6th in the Metropolitan Division) on Thursday. The line on this matchup has the Blue Jackets coming in at +109 and the Sharks are at -120. The O/U has been set at 5.5. The Blue Jackets cover 47.7% of the time, having gone 21-23 SU. San Jose covers 39.5% of the time, going 17-26 straight up.

The Columbus Blue Jackets come into this matchup with a record of 21 wins and 15 losses, which is good for 6th in the Metropolitan Division. During the year thus far, they have racked up a total of 117 goals which is 13th in the East and 25th in the NHL. Their goal differential is -2, which is good for 19th in the NHL. The Blue Jackets have compiled a total of 50 points, which is 16th in the NHL and 9th in the Eastern Conference. Regarding shots on goal, they have compiled a total of 1,432 which is 5th in the conference and 8th in the NHL. As a team, Columbus has earned a total of 854 hits which means they are averaging 19.4 per contest. They have compiled a total of 587 blocks for the season. The man between the pipes for Columbus is Elvis Merzlikins from Riga, Latvia. He is 25 years old and has played a total of 773 mins protecting the goal for the campaign. Merzlikins is giving up 2.87 goals per contest which has him ranking 16th among Eastern Conference goalies and 30th in the NHL among goalies. So far this season, he's given up 37 goals. He has a save percentage of .910 which has him ranking 14th among Eastern Conference goalies.

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The Columbus Blue Jackets came out of this game feeling pretty good about themselves with a 4 - 3 victory over the Anaheim Ducks the last time they stepped on the ice. The Blue Jackets had a solid offensive performance in the win. In this outing, they converted 4 out of the 27 shots they put on goal. Moreover, they had 3 power play chances and were able to net 1 goal out of those attempts. Columbus had 4 penalty minutes while out there on the ice. The Corsi for the Blue Jackets was 33 and the Corsi against was 56 which gave them a Corsi percentage of 37.1%. Their Fenwick was 27 while the Fenwick against was 45, which earned them a Fenwick percentage of 37.5%. They earned 13 face-off wins at even strength and lost 28 tries to control the puck. Their starts in the offensive zone were rated at 39.6% and they had a PDO of 105.7 in this game. When it comes to their opponent, the Anaheim Ducks tallied 40 shots. They had a total of 6 penalty minutes and they notched 2 power play attempts.

The Sharks are the team looking to add points to their total and for the current year they have 19 victories and 22 losses. Regarding goal differential, they rank 15th in the Western Conference and 29th in the league with -31. They currently have a total of 119 goals for this year which ranks them 12th in the West. San Jose has a team save % of .889 which is good for 28th in the league, meaning there could be plenty of chances to score if they are aggressive. They are shooting 9.1% putting them at 10th in the conference. In net for San Jose is Martin Jones who is having a rough year by giving up 3.19 goals per contest and that ranks him 29th among Western Conference goalies and 54th in the NHL among goaltenders. In the 1,767 mins he's played this year, he's surrendered 94 goals. His save % is .890, which ranks him 32nd among Western Conference goalies and 62nd in the NHL among goaltenders.

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The San Jose Sharks played the St. Louis Blues in an outing where the Sharks took the loss by a mark of 3 - 2. For this matchup, San Jose earned a 47.8% Corsi rating. They got to that percentage by earning a Corsi of 43 while the opposition had a Corsi of 47. Their Fenwick rate was 50.0% by way of having a Fenwick of 33 and the Blues earning a 33 Fenwick. This Corsi rating is telling of the kind of game that San Jose had and we're sure they will look for better performances in the future. They had a PDO at even strength of 88.9 and their percentage of oZS was 44.1%. The Sharks netted 2 goals out of the 29 shots on goal they attempted. They had 1 power play attempt in this one and converted 1 on that attempt. As for the opposition, the Blues had 3 power play attempts but were not able to notch a goal. San Jose allowed 27 shots on goal and the Blues had a total of 2 minutes in the box.

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

Guy's Pick: Take San Jose (-120)

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