Minnesota Wild vs Columbus Blue Jackets Predictions, NHL Expert Picks 2/28/2020

Game: Minnesota Wild vs Columbus Blue Jackets

Date: Friday, February 28, 2020

Location: Nationwide Arena in Columbus, OH

TV: FSN

Odds/Point Spread: Wild (+122) Blue Jackets (-135)

Total/Over-Under: 5.5

Joonas Korpisalo and the Columbus Blue Jackets (31-20-14, 5th in the Metropolitan Division) host the Minnesota Wild (30-25-7, 6th in the Central Division) at Nationwide Arena on Friday, February 28, 2020. The moneyline on this matchup has the Wild priced at +122 and the Blue Jackets are at -135. The over/under opens at 5.5. The Wild cover 46.7% of the time, having gone 28-32 SU. Columbus covers 47.7% of the time, going 31-34 straight up.

The Minnesota Wild head into this matchup holding a record of 30 victories and 25 losses, which is good for 6th in the Central Division. So far this year, they have racked up a total of 189 goals which ranks them 8th in the Western Conference and 18th in the NHL. Their goal differential is -9, which is good for 22nd in the NHL. The Wild have earned a total of 67 pts, which ranks them 23rd in the NHL and 11th in the Western Conference. In connection with shots toward the net, they have earned a total of 1,867 which ranks them 14th in the conference and 27th in the NHL. As a group, Minnesota has a total of 940 hits which means they have an average of 15.2 per game. They have earned a total of 753 blocks for the season. Looking after the net for Minnesota is Devan Dubnyk from Regina, Saskatchewan. He is 33 years old and has played a total of 1,601 minutes in goal this season. Dubnyk is conceding 3.34 goals against average which puts him at 33rd in the Western Conference and 63rd in the NHL. Over the course of this season, he's given up 89 goals. He's earned a save % of .892 which puts him at 32nd in the Western Conference.

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The Minnesota Wild came out of this game feeling pretty good about themselves with a 5 - 4 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets in their last game. The Wild had a impressive offensive outing in the victory. For this matchup, they scored on 5 out of the 40 shots they attempted. Furthermore, they had 1 power play chance but didn't net one. Minnesota had a total of 4 penalty minutes in their game. The Corsi for the Wild sat at 65 and the Corsi against was 42 giving them a Corsi percentage of 60.7%. Their Fenwick sat at 49 while the Fenwick against sat at 34, which gave them a Fenwick percentage of 59.0%. They won 23 face-off wins and were beaten on 31 of the face-offs. Their starts in the offensive zone were rated at 60.7% and they had a PDO of 97.2 for this game. With regard to the opposition's stats, the Columbus Blue Jackets tallied 28 shots. They finished with 2 penalty minutes and they notched 2 power play chances.

The Blue Jackets will be the team on the other side of the ice and for the current year they have 31 wins and 20 losses. In connection with goal differential, they are ranked 11th in the Eastern Conference and 17th in the NHL with +3. They have earned a total of 170 goals for this year which has them ranked at 13th in the conference. Columbus has a team save % of .914 which is good for 5th in the NHL, meaning chances to score may be scarce. They have a shooting percentage of 8.0% ranking them 15th in the Eastern Conference. In goal for Columbus is Joonas Korpisalo who is having an ok season by allowing 2.48 goals per contest and that has him ranked 8th among East goalies and 13th in the NHL among goalies. In the 1,910 minutes he's been on the ice this year, he's allowed 79 goals. He holds a save percentage of .914, which has him ranked 12th among East goalies and 23rd in the NHL among goalies.

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The Columbus Blue Jackets faced the Minnesota Wild in a game where the Blue Jackets took the defeat by a score of 5 - 4. In this matchup, Columbus had a 39.3% Corsi rating. They ended up with that by earning a Corsi of 42 and the team opposite of them having a Corsi of 65. Their Fenwick rate came in at 41.0% by earning a Fenwick of 34 and the Wild having a 49 Fenwick. These Corsi stats tell us the story of the kind of game Columbus had and they showed up in this game. They had a PDO at even strength of 102.8 and they had an oZS percentage of 39.3%. The Blue Jackets netted 4 goals out of the 28 shots on goal they pursued. They had 2 power play opportunities in this game but weren't able to put one in the back of the net. In discussing their opponent, the Wild had 1 power play opportunity but were not able to notch a goal. Columbus conceded 40 shots on goal and the Wild ended up with a total of 4 penalty minutes.

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

Josh's Pick: Take Minnesota (+122)

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