Montreal Canadiens vs Pittsburgh Penguins Predictions, NHL Expert Picks 2/14/2020

Game: Montreal Canadiens vs Pittsburgh Penguins

Date: Friday, February 14, 2020

Location: PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, PA

TV: TSN2/ATTP/RDS

Odds/Point Spread: Canadiens (+171) Penguins (-190)

Total/Over-Under: 6

Tristan Jarry and the Pittsburgh Penguins (34-15-6, 2nd in the Metropolitan Division) play the Montreal Canadiens (27-25-7, 5th in the Atlantic Division) at PPG Paints Arena on Friday, February 14, 2020. The Canadiens open this matchup at +171 while the Penguins are coming in at -190. The over/under has been set at 6. The Canadiens are covering 41.8% of the time, having gone 23-32 SU. The Penguins are covering 59.6% of the time, going 31-21 straight up.

The Montreal Canadiens head into this game holding a record of 27 victories and 25 defeats, putting them at 5th in the Atlantic Division. Thus far in the season, they have racked up a total of 176 goals which ranks them 9th in the East and 14th in the league. Their goal differential is -3, putting them at 19th in the league. The Canadiens have a total of 61 pts, which ranks them 20th in the league and 11th in the conference. With reference to shots toward the net, they have a total of 2,024 which ranks them 1st in the East and 1st in the league. As a group, Montreal currently has a total of 1,493 hits which means they are averaging 25.3 per contest. They have a total of 672 blocks for this year. The man in the crease for Montreal is Carey Price from Farmingville, New York. He is 32 years old and has played a total of 2,839 minutes in net this season. Price is allowing 2.71 goals per contest which ranks him 13th among Eastern Conference goaltenders and 21st in the NHL. Over the course of this season, he has given up 128 goals. He has a save percentage of .913 which ranks him 12th among Eastern Conference goaltenders.

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The Montreal Canadiens will need a bounce back game after taking a 4 - 1 defeat against the Boston Bruins their last time out. The Canadiens had a rough night on the offensive side of the ice in this loss. In this game, they converted 1 of the 29 shots they looked to score on. In addition, they had 3 power play opportunities but weren't able to score. Montreal racked up a total of 12 penalty mins for this matchup. The Corsi for the Canadiens was 47 and the Corsi against was 42 which means they had a Corsi percentage of 52.8%. Their Fenwick was 34 while the Fenwick against was 37, which earned them a Fenwick percentage of 47.9%. They won 26 face-off wins at even strength and were beaten on 18 attempts to control the puck. Their starts in the offensive zone came in at 39.1% and they had a PDO of 94.5 for this game. In terms of their opponent's stats, the Boston Bruins tallied 38 shots. They finished with 12 penalty minutes and they notched 3 power play attempts.

The Penguins will be the team across the ice and for the current year they sit with 34 victories and 15 defeats. When it comes to goal differential, they are ranked 4th in the Eastern Conference and 5th in the NHL with +29. They have compiled a total of 179 goals for the season which ranks them 7th in the Eastern Conference. Pittsburgh has a save percentage as a team of .909 which is good for 10th in the NHL, meaning there should be some opportunities to score. They are shooting 10.2% ranking them 7th in the Eastern Conference. In net for Pittsburgh is Tristan Jarry who is having an average season by allowing 2.18 goals per game and that places him 2nd among Eastern Conference goaltenders and 3rd in the NHL among goalies. In the 1,568 minutes he's played, he has allowed 57 goals. His save % is .929, which has him placed 4th among Eastern Conference goaltenders and 4th in the NHL among goalies.

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The Pittsburgh Penguins faced the Tampa Bay Lightning in an outing where the Penguins ended up taking the loss by a mark of 2 - 1. In this game, Pittsburgh had a 47.8% Corsi rating. They got there by having a Corsi of 44 and the other team having a Corsi of 48. Their Fenwick percentage was 49.3% by way of having a Fenwick of 35 and the Lightning having earned a 36 Fenwick. These Corsi statistics are telling of the type of game that Pittsburgh had and we're sure they will look for better performances in the future. They had a PDO at even strength of 96.3 and they'll go home having earned an oZS percentage of 73.2%. The Penguins converted 1 goal of the 36 shots on goal they were seeking. They had 4 power play opportunities in this one and were able to net 1 out of those attempts. On the other side of the ice, the Lightning had 4 power play opportunities and were able to tally 1 goal. Pittsburgh conceded 38 shots on goal and the Lightning racked up a total of 10 penalty mins.

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

Josh's Pick: Take Montreal (+171)

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