Montreal Canadiens at Washington Capitals NHL Picks & Predictions 1/19/2018

Friday, January 19, 2018

Capital One Arena

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Montreal Canadiens head to Capital One Arena to take on the Washington Capitals on Friday, January 19, 2018. The opening line for this contest has the Canadiens at +103 and the Capitals at -114.

Montreal has a record of 18-21-6 this year and away from home they have a record of 7-13-1-1. They are 6th in the Atlantic Division. They have tallied 116 goals and surrendered 142 goals for a point differential of -26. For the year they have an ATS mark of 18-27-0 and an over/under record of 19-24-0. Washington has a record of 28-14-3 including 18-6-0-0 on home ice this year. They are 1st in the Metropolitan Division. They've scored 140 goals and have given up 127 for a goal differential of +13. Their record against the spread is 28-17-0 while their over/under mark is 25-20-0.

Valuable Montreal Canadiens Betting Trends

The Montreal Canadiens are 18-27-0 straight up this year

The Montreal Canadiens are 19-24-0 against the over/under this season

Important Washington Capitals Betting Trends

The Washington Capitals are 28-17-0 straight up this year

The Washington Capitals are 25-20-0 against the over/under this season

Key Montreal Canadiens Injuries

12/18/17 D Shea Weber Foot IR (12/17)
10/22/17 RW Ales Hemsky Concussion IR (10/20)
01/17/18 LW Phillip Danault Concussion is "?" Friday vs Washington
01/15/18 RW Andrew Shaw Lower Body IR (01/14)

Key Washington Capitals Injuries

01/12/18 LW Andre Burakovsky Illness is "?" Thursday vs New Jersey

Player Spotlight

Max Pacioretty has scored 25 total points this year for the Canadiens. He has 12 goals this season with 173 shots on net, giving him a shooting percentage of 7%. He has a total of 13 assists on the year and averages 19.2 minutes played per contest. Brendan Gallagher averages 15.3 minutes of ice time per game this season. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 11% by tallying 16 goals on 145 attempts. He has 7 assists, giving him a total of 23 points on the year. Carey Price has 13 wins and 15 losses this season in goal for the Canadiens. He has 988 shots against him and he's surrendered 91 goals. He's made 897 stops for a save percentage of 91%.

Player Spotlight

Nicklas Backstrom has 37 total points this season for the Capitals. He has 9 goals this year with 80 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 11%. He has a total of 28 assists on the year and averages 19.7 minutes played per contest. Alex Ovechkin averages 19.7 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 15% by scoring 28 goals on 193 attempts. He has 21 assists, giving him a total of 49 points on the year. Braden Holtby has 24 wins and 9 losses this season in net for the Capitals. He has 1,028 shots against him and he's given up 85 goals. He's made 943 saves for a save percentage of 92%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Canadiens have 42 total points this year, which is 27th in the NHL. They've scored 116 goals while giving up 142 scores, which has them ranked 29th and 8th respectively. They have had 135 power play chances and scored 26 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 19%. That is 15th in the league. The Canadiens have given up 145 power play opportunities and surrendered 32 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 78%, ranking them 26th when short-handed. They average 34 shots per contest and as a team shoot 7.56% for the year. They allow 32 shot attempts to their opposition per game and have a team save percentage of 90%, which is 23rd in the league.

Useful Team Statistics

The Capitals are 3rd in the league with a total of 59 points this season. They have 27 power play goals on 138 chances for a percentage of 20%. That is 14th in the NHL. They've given up 153 power play opportunities and surrendered 32 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 79%, ranking 22nd overall. As a team, the Capitals are 9th with a total of 140 goals scored while they've given up 127 goals this season, ranking 19th in goals against. They average 29 shots per game and have a team shooting percentage of 10.74%. As a unit they give up 32 shots per contest and have a save percentage of 91%, putting them 14th overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Montreal is 12th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 50.8%, as they've attempted 2,804 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 2,715 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage is 50.9% as they have 2,051 attempts while they have given up 1,981 shots on the defensive end. That ranks them 13th in the league. The Canadiens start possessions in the offensive zone 52.4% of the time, which is 10th in the league, while their defensive zone percentage is at 47.6% for the season. That is 22nd overall in the NHL. They have 1,394 face-off wins compared to 1,449 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 49%. That ranks them 24th in the league. On defense Montreal has 1,123 hits and they have blocked 734 shots from the opposition, putting them 2nd overall.

Advanced Statistics

The Capitals start possessions in the offensive zone 50.2% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 49.8% for the year. That ranks them 20th and 13th respectively in the NHL. They have 1,367 face-off wins as opposed to 1,306 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 51.1%. That is 14th in the league. On defense Washington has 1,009 hits and they've blocked 661 attempts from opposing offenses, ranking them 17th in blocked shots. Washington is ranked 29th in Corsi percentage with 47.9% as they've tried 2,521 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 2,742 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. Their Fenwick percentage is 31st in the NHL at 47%, as they have 1,842 shots while they've given up 2,081 attempts on defense.

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

Guy's Pick: Take Montreal +103

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