Hurricanes vs Blue Jackets Predictions, Picks, Tips 1/16/2020

Game: Carolina Hurricanes vs Columbus Blue Jackets

Date: Thursday, January 16, 2020

Location: Nationwide Arena in Columbus, OH

TV: No TV

Odds/Point Spread: Hurricanes (-125) Blue Jackets (+113)

Total/Over-Under: 5.5

Elvis Merzlikins and the Columbus Blue Jackets (23-16-8, 6th in the Metropolitan Division) host the Carolina Hurricanes (27-17-2, 4th in the Metropolitan Division) at Nationwide Arena on Thursday, January 16, 2020. The Hurricanes open this matchup at -125 while the Blue Jackets are coming in at +113. The O/U is set at 5.5. The Hurricanes cover 56.8% of the time, having gone 25-19 SU. The Blue Jackets cover 48.9% of the time, going 23-24 straight up.

The Carolina Hurricanes head into this game holding a record of 27 victories and 17 defeats, which puts them at 4th in the Metropolitan Division. During the season thus far, they have scored a total of 148 goals which is good for 8th in the conference and 12th in the NHL. Their goal differential is +23, which puts them at 7th in the NHL. The Hurricanes currently have a total of 56 pts, which is good for 10th in the NHL and 7th in the conference. When looking at shots at the opposition, they currently have a total of 1,551 which is good for 3rd in the East and 5th in the NHL. As a unit, Carolina has compiled a total of 729 hits which has them averaging 15.8 per contest. They currently have a total of 433 blocks for this year. In goal for Carolina is Petr Mrazek from Lugnvik, Sweden. He is 27 years old and has racked up 1,761 mins protecting the net for the campaign. Mrazek is surrendering 2.62 GAA which has him sitting 13th in the Eastern Conference and 22nd in the NHL among goalies. For the season, he has given up 77 goals. He's earned a save % of .906 which has him sitting 18th in the Eastern Conference.

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The Carolina Hurricanes were on the losing side of the ice with a 2 - 0 loss to the Washington Capitals the last time they stepped on the ice. The Hurricanes offense left a lot to be desired in the loss. In this outing, they earned a goal on 0 of the 23 shots they looked to score on. Additionally, they had 3 power play opportunities but weren't able to score. Carolina had 12 penalty minutes for this game. The Corsi for the Hurricanes was 34 and the Corsi against was 46 giving them a Corsi percentage of 42.5%. Their Fenwick was 22 while the Fenwick against sat at 37, which means they had a rate of 37.3%. They earned 18 face-off wins and lost 28 of all total face-offs. Their starts in the offensive zone came in at 51.6% and they had a PDO of 96.4 for this game. In terms of their opponent's stats, the Washington Capitals earned a total of 30 shots. They finished with 6 penalty minutes and they earned a total of 6 power play opportunities.

The Blue Jackets will be on the other side of the ice and for the season they have 23 victories and 16 defeats. In terms of goal differential, they are currently ranked 11th in the Eastern Conference and 18th in the league with +2. They currently have a total of 124 goals for the season which is 13th in the conference. Columbus has a save % as a team of .913 which currently has them ranked 6th in the league, which means chances to score may be limited. They have a team shooting percentage of 8.2% ranking them 15th in the Eastern Conference. In net for Columbus is Elvis Merzlikins who is having a marginal season by surrendering 2.53 goals against average and that ranks him 8th among Eastern Conference goaltenders and 14th in the NHL among goalies. In the 950 mins he's played this season, he has allowed 40 goals. He's earned a save % of .921, which puts him at 6th among Eastern Conference goaltenders and 14th in the NHL among goalies.

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The Columbus Blue Jackets faced the Boston Bruins in a matchup where the Blue Jackets took home the victory by a mark of 3 - 0. For this game, Columbus earned a 39.8% Corsi rating. That percentage was had by having a Corsi of 35 while the opposition had a Corsi of 53. Their Fenwick percentage was 42.4% by way of having a Fenwick of 28 and the Bruins having earned a 38 Fenwick at even strength. These Corsi stats tell us the story of the kind of game Columbus played and we'd say they played an average game. They had a PDO at even strength of 108.7 and their oZS percentage was 52.2%. The Blue Jackets converted 3 goals out of the 27 shots on goal they tried. They had 2 power play attempts in this outing and were able to convert 1 out of those opportunities. Concerning their opponent, the Bruins had 4 power play chances but weren't able to put the puck in the net. Columbus conceded 34 shots on goal and the Bruins racked up a total of 6 minutes in the box.

Who will win tonight's NHL game ATS?

Guy's Pick: Take Columbus (+113)

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