Pittsburgh Penguins at Colorado Avalanche NHL Picks & Predictions 12/18/2017

Monday, December 18, 2017

Pepsi Center

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Pittsburgh Penguins head to Pepsi Center to take on the Colorado Avalanche on Monday, December 18, 2017. The opening line for this contest has the Penguins at -105 and the Avalanche at -115.

Pittsburgh has a record of 17-14-3 this year and away from home they have a record of 7-9-2. They are 6th in the Metropolitan Division. They have tallied 99 goals and surrendered 108 goals for a point differential of -9. For the year they have an ATS mark of 16-17-0 and an over/under record of 18-14-0. Colorado has a record of 15-15-2 including 9-6-1 on home ice this year. They are 7th in the Central Division. They've scored 101 goals and have given up 107 for a goal differential of -6. Their record against the spread is 15-16-0 while their over/under mark is 19-12-0.

Valuable Pittsburgh Penguins Betting Trends

The Pittsburgh Penguins are 16-17-0 straight up this year

The Pittsburgh Penguins are 18-14-0 against the over/under this season

Important Colorado Avalanche Betting Trends

The Colorado Avalanche are 15-16-0 straight up this year

The Colorado Avalanche are 19-12-0 against the over/under this season

Key Pittsburgh Penguins Injuries

12/16/17 RW Tom Kuhnhackl Upper Body is "?" Monday vs Colorado
12/07/17 D Justin Schultz Lower Body IR (12/06)

Key Colorado Avalanche Injuries

12/16/17 C Alexander Kerfoot Lower Body is "?" Monday vs Pittsburgh
11/19/17 C Vladislav Kamenev Arm IR (11/16)

Player Spotlight

Phil Kessel has scored 38 total points this year for the Penguins. He has 15 goals this season with 131 shots on net, giving him a shooting percentage of 12%. He has a total of 23 assists on the year and averages 18.7 minutes played per contest. Sidney Crosby averages 20.8 minutes of ice time per game this season. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 13% by tallying 14 goals on 107 attempts. He has 19 assists, giving him a total of 33 points on the year. Tristan Jarry has 5 wins and 2 losses this season in goal for the Penguins. He has 272 shots against him and he's surrendered 22 goals. He's made 250 stops for a save percentage of 92%.

Player Spotlight

Mikko Rantanen has 27 total points this season for the Avalanche. He has 9 goals this year with 72 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 13%. He has a total of 18 assists on the year and averages 18.7 minutes played per contest. Nathan MacKinnon averages 19.9 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 15% by scoring 15 goals on 103 attempts. He has 23 assists, giving him a total of 38 points on the year. Semyon Varlamov has 10 wins and 8 losses this season in net for the Avalanche. He has 639 shots against him and he's given up 60 goals. He's made 579 saves for a save percentage of 91%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Penguins have 37 total points this year, which is 17th in the NHL. They've scored 99 goals while giving up 108 scores, which has them ranked 14th and 5th respectively. They have had 125 power play chances and scored 31 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 25%. That is 4th in the league. The Penguins have given up 126 power play opportunities and surrendered 24 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 81%, ranking them 17th when short-handed. They average 35 shots per contest and as a team shoot 8.32% for the year. They allow 31 shot attempts to their opposition per game and have a team save percentage of 90%, which is 26th in the league.

Useful Team Statistics

The Avalanche are 24th in the league with a total of 32 points this season. They have 24 power play goals on 133 chances for a percentage of 18%. That is 19th in the NHL. They've given up 118 power play opportunities and surrendered 22 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 81%, ranking 16th overall. As a team, the Avalanche are 11th with a total of 101 goals scored while they've given up 107 goals this season, ranking 6th in goals against. They average 30 shots per game and have a team shooting percentage of 10.68%. As a unit they give up 32 shots per contest and have a save percentage of 90%, putting them 25th overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Pittsburgh has a Corsi percentage of 52.1% as they've tried 2,095 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 1,923 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. That ranks them 10th in Corsi percentage. They are 5th in the NHL in Fenwick percentage with 53.3% as they have 1,610 shots while they've given up 1,412 attempts on defense. The Penguins start possessions in the offensive zone 54% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 46% for the year. That puts them 7th and 25th in the league in zone percentages respectively. They have 1,082 face-off wins as opposed to 1,058 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 50.6%. That is 12th overall in the NHL. On defense Pittsburgh has 795 hits and they've blocked 511 attempts from opposing offenses, which is 4th in the league.

Advanced Statistics

The Avalanche are 16th in the league in starting possessions in the offensive zone, doing so 49.7% of the time. Their defensive zone percentage is at 50.3% for the season, which is 12th in the NHL. They have 872 face-off wins compared to 1,086 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 44.5%. That is 31st in the league. On defense Colorado has 567 hits and they have blocked 468 shots from the opposition, which is 22nd in the league. Colorado is 23rd in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 47.8% as they've attempted 1,740 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 1,902 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage of 47.2% ranks 26th as they have 1,280 attempts while they have given up 1,434 shots on the defensive end.

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

Guy's Pick: Take Pittsburgh -105

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