Arizona Coyotes vs Columbus Blue Jackets Prediction, 10/14/2021 NHL Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Arizona Coyotes vs Columbus Blue Jackets

Date: Thursday, October 14, 2021

Location: Nationwide Arena in Columbus, OH

TV: Bally Sports Ohio

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

Nationwide Arena is the site where Elvis Merzlikins and the Columbus Blue Jackets (18-26-12) will take on the Arizona Coyotes (24-26-6) on Thursday. The Blue Jackets open this matchup at -135 while the Coyotes are coming in at +122. The over/under opens at 5½.

The Coyotes had a good night with a 5-4 victory against the Sharks their last time on the ice. The Coyotes had a solid offensive output and it showed in the victory. For the outing, they earned a goal on 5 out of the 32 shots they tried. Moreover, they had 2 power play chances and scored 1 goal. Arizona earned 6 mins in the box in this matchup. The Corsi for the Coyotes was 42 and the Corsi against when the final whistle blew was 58 which had their Corsi percentage coming in at 42.0%. Their Fenwick came in at 36 and the Fenwick against finished at 51, meaning they had a Fenwick percentage of 41.4%. They accrued 29 face-off wins at even strength and lost on 27 attempts to gain puck control. Their offensive zone starts were at 44.5% and they had a PDO of 104.0 in this game.

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Arizona Coyotes opponents had 167 power play opportunities (15th in the league) and scored 32 goals in those chances. The Coyotes had 1,706 shots tried against them and held a save percentage of .898. Arizona took 1,538 shots and held a shooting percentage of 9.8%. While at even strength, the Coyotes conceded 142 goals while earning 113. Arizona wrapped up the season with 178 power play opportunities and tallied 37 goals out of those attempts, garnering them a rate of 20.79%. For the previous season, they earned 54 points and their points % was .482. Concerning their scoring capabilities, the Arizona Coyotes tallied 150 goals (23rd in hockey) during the previous year and allowed 174.

The player guarding the cage in this matchup is Carter Hutton. Hutton has taken the ice for 232 games over the course of his professional hockey career. He has amassed an overall record of 94-88-27 and he has gotten the start in 204 games. Opponents have notched 565 goals versus Hutton in his NHL career and his goals against rate is 2.71. Hutton has seen 6,221 shots against him and has accrued 5,656 saves. He has a save percentage of .909 in his 12,492 mins on the ice. From the beginning of his pro career to now, Hutton has accounted for 103 quality starts and his quality starts percentage is .505.

In their last contest, Columbus went up against the Red Wings in a matchup where the Blue Jackets notched a victory by a final of 5-4. Columbus had a 50.9% Corsi rating. This Corsi percentage speaks to the kind of game that Columbus played and it tells us that they played really well in this game. They had a Fenwick percentage of 52.0% by accumulating a Fenwick of 51 and the Red Wings finishing with a 47 Fenwick. Their PDO was 104 and their oZS percentage was 48.4%. The Blue Jackets notched 5 goals out of the 36 shots on goal they took. They had 0 power play attempts in this outing but weren't able to put one in the back of the net.

For the year, the Columbus Blue Jackets notched a total of 134 goals, 48 points, in addition to a points percentage of .429. They allowed 184 goals to be scored by of a combination of 156 goals at even strength and 28 goals while they had less men on the ice. The Blue Jackets scored 116 goals at even strength and 18 goals (29th in the league) while having a power play advantage. They had 117 opportunities on the power play and they have earned a power play percentage of 15.38%. Columbus attempted 1,625 shots (21st in the NHL) and had a shooting percentage of 8.25%, while allowing their opponent 1,815 shots. They recorded a penalty kill percentage of 78.95% on their opponent's 133 chances on the power play, and their save percentage was at 89.9%.

Across the rink you are likely to see Elvis Merzlikins patrolling the crease. Merzlikins is the owner of a career record of 21-21-13 and has been in goal for 61 games. Merzlikins' quality start rate is 57.4% and he has 31 quality starting assignments in his pro hockey career. He has racked up 1,604 stops out of 1,744 shots attempted against him, giving him a percentage of .920. Teams are averaging 2.54 goals per game and he has surrendered 140 goals in total. He has started in 54 games and has racked up 3,312 mins.

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

Tony's Pick: Take Arizona (+122)

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