Philadelphia Flyers vs Columbus Blue Jackets Predictions, NHL Picks 2/20/2020

Game: Philadelphia Flyers vs Columbus Blue Jackets

Date: Thursday, February 20, 2020

Location: Nationwide Arena in Columbus, OH

TV: NSPA

Odds/Point Spread: Flyers (+104) Blue Jackets (-115)

Total/Over-Under: 5.5

Carter Hart and the Philadelphia Flyers (33-20-7, 3rd in the Metropolitan Division) head to Nationwide Arena on Thursday where they'll take on the Columbus Blue Jackets (30-19-12, 6th in the Metropolitan Division). The Flyers open this matchup at +104 while the Blue Jackets are coming in at -115. The O/U has been set at 5.5. The Flyers are covering 50.9% of the time, having gone 28-27 SU. The Blue Jackets are covering 49.2% of the time, going 30-31 straight up.

The Philadelphia Flyers head into this game with a record of 33 victories and 20 defeats, which is good for 3rd in the Metropolitan Division. So far this season, they have converted a total of 193 goals which has them ranked at 7th in the East and 8th in the NHL. Their goal differential is +20, which is good for 7th in the NHL. The Flyers currently have a total of 73 pts, which has them ranked at 7th in the NHL and 5th in the conference. Regarding shots toward the net, they currently have a total of 1,889 which has them ranked at 8th in the East and 15th in the NHL. As a group, Philadelphia has earned a total of 1,205 hits which means they have an average of 20.1 per game. They currently have a total of 607 blocks for the season. Protecting the net for Philadelphia is Carter Hart from Lulea, Sweden. He is 21 years old and has racked up 1,939 mins protecting the net this year. Hart is surrendering 2.54 goals against average which has him placed 10th in the East and 15th in the NHL. During this year, he's surrendered 82 goals. He holds a save % of .908 which has him placed 18th in the East.

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The Philadelphia Flyers were on the winning side of the scoreboard with a 5 - 1 victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets in their previous game. The Flyers had a solid offensive outing and it was apparent in the victory. In this outing, they finished 5 of the 15 shots they attempted. Moreover, they had 1 power play chance and scored 1 goal on that try. Philadelphia earned 6 penalty minutes in this outing. The Corsi for the Flyers sat at 39 and the Corsi against was 47 which tells us they had a Corsi percentage of 45.3%. Their Fenwick sat at 21 and the Fenwick against sat at 32, which means they had a rate of 39.6%. They earned 28 face-off wins and were beaten on 24 of all total face-offs. Their offensive zone starts came in at 48.0% and they had a PDO at even strength of 128.6 for this game. Regarding their opponent, the Columbus Blue Jackets earned 29 shots. They had 2 penalty mins and they tallied 3 power play chances.

The Blue Jackets will be the team across the ice and for the year they sit with 30 victories and 19 defeats. Regarding goal differential, they are ranked 11th in the Eastern Conference and 17th in the league with +4. They have earned a total of 156 goals for the year which has them ranked at 15th in the Eastern Conference. Columbus has a save percentage as a team of .915 which currently has them ranked 4th in the league, which means chances to score may be limited. They have a team shooting percentage of 7.9% which is good for 15th in the Eastern Conference. In goal for Columbus is Elvis Merzlikins who is having an ok season by surrendering 2.29 goals per game and that places him 3rd among East goalies and 4th among goaltenders in the NHL. In the 1,595 mins he's been on the ice this year, he's allowed 61 goals. He's earned a save % of .924, which places him at 4th among East goalies and 6th among goaltenders in the NHL.

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The Columbus Blue Jackets went up against the Philadelphia Flyers in a matchup where the Blue Jackets took a loss by a final of 5 - 1. For this matchup, Columbus earned a 54.7% Corsi rating. That percentage was had by having a Corsi of 47 and the other team having a Corsi of 39. Their Fenwick percentage was 60.4% with a Fenwick of 32 and the Flyers having a 21 Fenwick. This Corsi percentage speaks to the kind of game that Columbus had and the stats tell us that they didn't play well overall. They had a PDO of 71.4 and they earned an oZS percentage of 51.5%. The Blue Jackets converted 1 goal out of the 29 shots on goal they pursued. They had 3 power play chances in this game and were able to net 1 out of those attempts. As for their opponent, the Flyers had 1 power play opportunity and ended up scoring 1 goal. Columbus gave way to 15 shots on goal and the Flyers earned 6 penalty mins.

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

Tony's Pick: Take Philadelphia (+104)

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