Columbus Blue Jackets vs Colorado Avalanche Prediction, 10/12/2024 NHL Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Columbus Blue Jackets vs Colorado Avalanche

Date: Saturday, October 12, 2024

Location: Ball Arena in Denver, CO

TV: Altitude Sports

The Colorado Avalanche (50-25-7 last season) welcome the Columbus Blue Jackets (27-43-12 last year) at Ball Arena on Saturday.

The Columbus Blue Jackets came out of this game feeling pretty good about themselves with a 6-3 win against the Hurricanes in their previous outing. Columbus accounted for 10 penalty minutes in this contest. The Blue Jackets had a good offensive output in this victory. They also had 2 chances with the advantage but weren't able to score. In the game, they converted 6 of the 25 shots they put on goal.

Concerning scoring goals, the Columbus Blue Jackets tallied 234 goals (25th in hockey) over the course of last year and allowed 298. For the previous campaign, they finished with 66 points and their points percentage was .402. Columbus finished with 212 power play opportunities and tallied 32 goals out of those attempts, garnering them a percentage of 15.09%. While at even strength, the Blue Jackets allowed 242 goals while scoring 202. Columbus took 2,458 shots and had a shooting percentage of 9.5%. The Blue Jackets had 2,822 shots taken against them and held a save percentage of .894. Columbus Blue Jackets opposition had 236 power play tries (23rd in hockey) and had a total of 56 goals in those chances.

The player guarding the cage in this matchup is Elvis Merzlikins. Merzlikins has played in 191 contests during his hockey career. He has amassed an overall record of 68-79-30 and he was named the starter in 177 games. The opposition has been able to score 558 goals against Merzlikins in his career and his goals against average per game is 3.20. Merzlikins has had 5,819 shots against him and has recorded 5,261 total saves. His save percentage currently is .904 for his 10,451 mins on the ice. In his career, Merzlikins is sitting with 85 quality starts and his rate for quality starts is .480.

Their last time out, Colorado went up against the Golden Knights in a game where the Avalanche took the defeat by a final score of 8-4. The Avalanche scored 4 goals of the 32 shots on goal they pursued. They had 3 power play attempts in this contest and recorded 1 out of those chances.

Colorado has tried 2,705 shots (5th in the NHL) and earned a shot percentage of 11.16%, while allowing their opponent 2,444 shots. They accumulated a penalty kill rate of 79.92% on the other team's 264 tries on the power play, and their save percentage was 89.7%. They had a tally of 278 opportunities on the power play and they have a power play rate of 24.46%. The Avalanche accumulated 234 goals at even strength and 68 goals (2nd in pro hockey) while having more men on the ice. They granted a total of 252 goals to be scored by of a combination of 199 goals at even strength and 53 goals while they were shorthanded. Last season, the Colorado Avalanche earned a total of 302 goals, 107 points, as well as a points percentage of .652.

On the other side of the ice you will find Alexandar Georgiev in goal. Georgiev holds a lifetime mark of 136-82-22 and has participated in 254 games. Georgiev's percentage of quality starts sits at 52.7% and he has qualified for 127 quality starts in his career. He is sitting with 6,740 saves out of 7,422 shots attempted against him, which gives him a save percentage of .908. His opponents are averaging 2.85 goals per game and he has surrendered 682 goals overall. He has been a starter 241 games and has been on the ice for 14,339 minutes.

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

Josh's Pick: Take Colorado

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