Columbus Blue Jackets vs Carolina Hurricanes 1/7/23 NHL Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Carolina Hurricanes and the Columbus Blue Jackets meet in NHL action from the Nationwide Arena on Saturday.

The Carolina Hurricanes will try to bounce back from a 5-3 loss to Nashville last time out. Martin Necas has a team-high 38 points with 17 goals and a team-high 21 assists while Sebastian Aho also has 18 assists along with 12 goals as part of his 30 points. Andrei Svechnikov also has 33 points with a team-high 19 goals this season. Pyotr Kochetkov is 10-3-4 with a 2.20 GAA and a .919 save percentage while Antti Raanta is 10-2-2 with a 2.62 GAA and a .897 save percentage in goal for Carolina so far this season.

The Columbus Blue Jackets will b3 out to bounce back from a 6-2 loss to Washington last time out. Johnny Gaudreau has a team-high 38 points with 11 goals and 27 assists while Boone Jenner has 22 points with a team-high 11 goals. Elvis Merzlikins has gone 4-9 with a 4.78 GAA and an .861 save percentage while Joonas Korpisalo is 5-7-1 with a 3.13 GAA and a .911 save percentage and Daniil Tarasov has gone 2-8-1 with a 3.40 GAA and an .907 save percentage in goal for Columbus this year.

Carolina is 9-1 in their last 10 games against the Eastern Conference and 4-0 in their last 4 Saturday games while the over is 4-0 in their last 4 division games. Columbus is 0-4 in their last 4 games following a loss by 3 or more goals and 1-8 in their last 9 games after scoring 2 goals or less in the previous game while the under is 4-0 in their last 4 games against a team with a winning percentage above .600.

I get the case to be made for a home underdog in spots, but not this one. The Columbus Blue Jackets have not had much luck this season and I don’t expect it to continue here against one of the NHL’s hottest teams in the Carolina Hurricanes. The Blue Jackets have goaltending issues that need to be seen to before instilling any sort of faith in them in a spot like this. Give me the Hurricanes -1.5 here.