New York Rangers vs Columbus Blue Jackets Predictions, Free NHL Pick 2/14/2020

Game: New York Rangers vs Columbus Blue Jackets

Date: Friday, February 14, 2020

Location: Nationwide Arena in Columbus, OH

TV: MSG

Odds/Point Spread: Rangers (+136) Blue Jackets (-150)

Total/Over-Under: 6

Elvis Merzlikins and the Columbus Blue Jackets (30-17-10, 4th in the Metropolitan Division) host the New York Rangers (28-23-4, 7th in the Metropolitan Division) at Nationwide Arena on Friday, February 14, 2020. The Blue Jackets open this contest at -150 while the Rangers are coming in at +136. The over/under opens at 6. The Rangers are covering 50.9% of the time, having gone 28-27 SU. Columbus covers 52.6% of the time, going 30-27 straight up.

The New York Rangers step onto the ice holding a record of 28 victories and 23 defeats, which is good for 7th in the Metropolitan Division. During the season thus far, they have scored a total of 181 goals which has them at 6th in the conference and 8th in the league. Their goal differential is +9, which is good for 14th in the league. The Rangers currently have a total of 60 points, which has them at 21st in the league and 12th in the East. When talking about shots at the opposing goalie, they currently have a total of 1,704 which has them at 12th in the Eastern Conference and 23rd in the league. As a team, New York has obtained a total of 1,112 hits which has them averaging 20.2 per game. They currently have a total of 681 blocks for this year. The man in the crease for New York is Henrik Lundqvist from Fussen, West Germany. He is 37 years old and has played a total of 1,522 mins minding the goal for the season. Lundqvist is conceding 3.12 GAA which ranks him 24th among East goalies and 53rd among goalies in the NHL. Over the course of this season, he has given up 79 goals. His save percentage is .907 which ranks him 22nd among East goalies.

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The New York Rangers came out of this game feeling pretty good about themselves with a 4 - 1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets the last time they stepped on the ice. The Rangers had a good offensive performance in this victory. In this matchup, they scored on 4 out of the 32 shots they looked to score on. Furthermore, they had 1 power play attempt and netted 1 goal on that try. New York ended up with 10 penalty mins in this outing. The Corsi for the Rangers was 46 and the Corsi against was 57 which means they earned a Corsi percentage of 44.7%. Their Fenwick was 34 and the Fenwick against was 45, which earned them a rate of 43.0%. They won 16 face-off wins at even strength and were beaten on 24 of all total face-offs. Their offensive zone starts came in at 27.4% and they had a PDO of 107.7 in this one. In discussing stats from the opponent, the Winnipeg Jets tallied 44 shots. They had a total of 4 penalty mins and they tallied 4 power play chances.

The Blue Jackets will be on the other side of the ice and for the season they have 30 wins and 17 losses. With regard to goal differential, they rank 9th in the East and 12th in the NHL with +11. They currently have a total of 148 goals for the season which is good for 14th in the conference. Columbus has a team save % of .919 which currently has them ranked 3rd in the NHL, which means scoring opportunities may be scarce. They have a team shooting percentage of 8.1% putting them at 15th in the East. In goal for Columbus is Elvis Merzlikins who is having an ok season by giving up 2.19 goals against average and that has him ranked 3rd in the Eastern Conference and 4th among goaltenders in the NHL. In the 1,428 minutes he has played this year, he has given up 52 goals. He holds a save % of .930, which puts him at 3rd in the Eastern Conference and 3rd among goaltenders in the NHL.

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The Columbus Blue Jackets played the Tampa Bay Lightning in a game where the Blue Jackets were on the wrong end of the score by a final of 2 - 1. For this outing, Columbus earned a 50.5% Corsi rating. They ended up with that by earning a Corsi of 46 while the opposition earned a Corsi of 45. They earned a Fenwick percentage of 51.4% by earning a Fenwick of 37 and the Lightning finishing with a 35 Fenwick. These Corsi statistics are telling of the type of game that Columbus had and we're sure they will look for better performances in the future. They had a PDO of 95.9 and they'll go home having earned an oZS percentage of 43.1%. The Blue Jackets notched 1 goal of the 32 shots on goal they took. They had 3 power play opportunities in this one but weren't able to score a goal. Concerning the opposition, the Lightning had 3 power play attempts but were not able to take advantage. Columbus allowed 30 shots on goal and the Lightning racked up 10 minutes in the box.

Who will win tonight's NHL game ATS?

Guy's Pick: Take Columbus (-150)

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