Columbus Blue Jackets vs Toronto Maple Leafs Prediction, 12/7/2021 NHL Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Columbus Blue Jackets vs Toronto Maple Leafs

Date: Tuesday, December 7, 2021

Location: Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, ON

TV: Sportsnet

Odds/Point Spread: Blue Jackets (+215) Maple Leafs (-275)

Jack Campbell and the Toronto Maple Leafs (17-7-2) play the Columbus Blue Jackets (13-10-0) at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday. The Blue Jackets open this contest at +215 while the Maple Leafs are coming in at -275. The total has been set at 5.5.

The Blue Jackets will head into their next game feeling good after earning a 6-4 victory against the Sharks in their last outing. The Corsi for the Blue Jackets came in at 54 and the Corsi against at the end of this game was 59 which means they had a Corsi rate of 47.8%. Their offensive zone starts sat at 39.2% and they had a PDO of 108.2 in this one. Columbus accumulated 2 penalty minutes in this game. The Blue Jackets had a impressive offensive outing in the victory. Their Fenwick was 40 and the Fenwick Against sat at 48, meaning they had a Fenwick rate of 45.5%. They amassed 36 face-off wins when at even strength and were beaten on 34 opportunities to gain puck control. They also had 1 power play opportunity but didn't get a goal. For the game, they tallied a score on 6 out of the 30 shots they tried.

Get all of our NHL Expert Picks

When it comes to their scoring capabilities, the Columbus Blue Jackets have racked up 74 goals (13th in pro hockey) on the season and have allowed 75. For the current campaign, they have racked up 26 points and their points percentage comes in at .565. Columbus steps onto the ice with 60 power play opportunities and they have tallied 12 goals during those advantages, garnering them a percentage of 20.00%. When at even strength, the Blue Jackets let the opposition score 65 goals while getting 62 on offense. Columbus has taken 680 shots and holds a shot percentage of 10.9%. The Blue Jackets have had 791 shots attempted against them and hold a save percentage of .905. Columbus Blue Jackets opponents have amassed 63 power play opportunities (25th in the league) and have racked up 10 goals in those attempts.

The man protecting the goal in this game is Elvis Merzlikins. Opponents have notched 176 goals against Merzlikins in his career and his goals against average is 2.57. Merzlikins has played in 75 games throughout his professional hockey career. He has a save percentage of .920 in his 4,107 minutes guarding the cage. He has compiled a win-loss mark of 31-25-13 and he has gotten the start in 68 games. For his professional hockey career, Merzlikins is sitting with 39 quality starts and his quality starts rate sits at .574. Merzlikins has seen 2,195 shots against him and has amassed 2,019 saves.

The last time they were on the ice, Toronto played the Jets in a game where the Maple Leafs were on the wrong end of the score by a mark of 6-3. Toronto had a 52.6% Corsi rating. These Corsi statistics are telling of the type of game that Toronto had and we'd say they played an average game. Their Fenwick rate was 47.2% by way of having a Fenwick of 34 and the Jets having racked up a 38 Fenwick. Their PDO at even strength was 94 and their percentage of oZS was 47.8%. The Maple Leafs scored 3 goals out of the 35 shots on goal they took. They had 5 opportunities on the power play in this one and recorded 2 goals out of those opportunities.

Toronto has taken 896 shots (1st in the league) and has a shooting percentage of 8.93%, while allowing their opponents 812 shots. They have earned a penalty kill rate of 82.43% on their oppositions 74 opportunities on the power play, and their save percentage is currently 92.5%. They have earned 74 power play opportunities and they have accumulated a power play percentage of 25.68%. The Maple Leafs have scored 61 goals at even strength and 19 goals (4th in the league) while on the power play. They have granted a total of 61 goals to be scored by of a combination of 48 goals at even strength and 13 goals while they had less men on the ice. So far this year, the Toronto Maple Leafs have earned a total of 80 goals, 36 points, in addition to a points percentage of .692.

On the other side of the ice you will find Jack Campbell in the crease. Opponents are averaging 2.33 goals per contest and he has yielded 231 goals altogether. Campbell's quality start rate comes in at 59.8% and he has accumulated 58 quality starting assignments in his pro career. He has been a starter 97 contests and has played for a total of 5,940 minutes. Campbell is sitting with a career mark of 53-34-10 and has played in 106 contests. He has accounted for 2,744 stops out of the 2,975 shots attempted, giving him a percentage of .922.

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

Josh's Pick: Take Columbus (+215)

Get $60 worth of FREE premium member picks. No Obligation. No Salesman. No Credit Card. Fast Sign up with Instant Access Click Here