Columbus Blue Jackets vs New Jersey Devils Predictions, NHL Expert Picks 2/16/2020

Game: Columbus Blue Jackets vs New Jersey Devils

Date: Sunday, February 16, 2020

Location: Prudential Center in Newark, NJ

TV: No TV

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

Total/Over-Under: 5

Elvis Merzlikins and the Columbus Blue Jackets (30-18-11, 5th in the Metropolitan Division) travel to Prudential Center on Sunday where they'll take on the New Jersey Devils (21-26-10, 8th in the Metropolitan Division). The odds on this game have the Blue Jackets priced at -130 and the Devils are at +118. The over/under is set at 5. The Blue Jackets cover 50.9% of the time, having gone 30-29 SU. New Jersey is covering 33.3% of the time, going 18-36 straight up.

The Columbus Blue Jackets step onto the ice holding a record of 30 victories and 18 defeats, which is good for 5th in the Metropolitan Division. Thus far in the season, they have earned a total of 152 goals which has them ranked at 14th in the conference and 25th in the league. Their goal differential is +8, which is good for 14th in the league. The Blue Jackets have compiled a total of 71 pts, which has them ranked at 9th in the league and 7th in the Eastern Conference. In connection with shots toward the net, they have compiled a total of 1,892 which has them ranked at 3rd in the conference and 5th in the league. As a group, Columbus has collected a total of 1,144 hits which means they are averaging 19.4 per game. They have compiled a total of 789 blocks for the season. The goalie for Columbus is Elvis Merzlikins from Riga, Latvia. He is 25 years old and has been on the ice a total of 1,486 mins minding the goal for the year. Merzlikins is surrendering an average of 2.18 GAA which places him at 3rd among Eastern Conference goaltenders and 4th in the NHL among goaltenders. Over the course of this season, he has given up 54 goals. His save % is .930 which places him at 3rd among Eastern Conference goaltenders.

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The Columbus Blue Jackets were on the wrong end of the scoreboard with a 3 - 1 defeat against the New York Rangers in their previous contest. The Blue Jackets had a below average offensive performance in this loss. In this game, they netted 1 out of the 37 shots they attempted. Moreover, they had 2 power play attempts but weren't able to notch a goal in these power play chances. Columbus earned 6 penalty minutes for this game. The Corsi for the Blue Jackets was 55 and the Corsi against was 45 giving them a Corsi percentage of 55.0%. Their Fenwick was 45 while the Fenwick against was 33, which tells us they had a Fenwick percentage of 57.7%. They earned 21 face-off wins at even strength and lost 21 of the face-offs. The offensive zone starts for them came in at 53.1% and they had a PDO at even strength of 91.2 in this game. Regarding their opponent, the New York Rangers earned 28 shots. They finished with 4 minutes in the box and they notched 3 power play attempts.

The Devils will be on the other side of the ice and for the current year they have 21 wins and 26 losses. Regarding goal differential, they are currently ranked 15th in the Eastern Conference and 28th in the league with -40. They have a total of 155 goals for this year which is 13th in the East. New Jersey has a save percentage as a team of .893 which currently has them ranked 28th in the league, meaning scoring chances could be plentiful if they are aggressive. They are shooting 8.7% ranking them 13th in the Eastern Conference. In goal for New Jersey is MacKenzie Blackwood who is having a marginal campaign by giving up 2.79 goals against average and that places him 17th in the Eastern Conference and 29th among goaltenders in the NHL. In the 2,258 minutes he has been on the ice, he's surrendered 105 goals. His save percentage is .912, which places him at 15th in the Eastern Conference and 29th among goaltenders in the NHL.

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The New Jersey Devils went up against the Carolina Hurricanes in a matchup where the Devils took a loss by a tally of 5 - 2. In their game, New Jersey earned a 38.7% Corsi rating. That percentage was had by having a Corsi of 36 and the team opposite of them having a Corsi of 57. Their Fenwick percentage was 43.8% by way of having a Fenwick of 32 and the Hurricanes finishing with a 41 Fenwick. These Corsi stats tell us the story of the kind of game New Jersey had and we're sure they will look for better performances in the future. They had a PDO of 90.1 and their percentage of oZS was 37.5%. The Devils scored 2 goals of the 37 shots on goal they pursued. They had 4 power play opportunities in this outing but didn't put one in the back of the net. As for their opponent, the Hurricanes had 2 power play opportunities but didn't put the puck in goal. New Jersey gave way to 31 shots on goal and the Hurricanes earned 8 penalty minutes.

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

Josh's Pick: Take Columbus (-130)

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