The Pittsburgh Penguins and the Columbus Blue Jackets meet Friday in NHL action from Nationwide Arena. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Columbus Blue Jackets vs Pittsburgh Penguins Prediction.
Pittsburgh Penguins Recap
The Pittsburgh Penguins come into this one looking to bounce back from a 3-2 OT loss to the Detroit Red Wings last time out. After this game, Pittsburgh will meet the Sharks, Lightning, Jets, and Utah.
Penguins Continue To Slide
Evgeni Malkin has a team-high 18 points with 5 goals and a team-high 13 assists while Sidney Crosby has 17 points with a team-high 6 goals and 11 assists. Rickard Rakell has 11 points with 6 goals and 5 assists and Erik Karlsson has 10 points with 2 goals and 8 assists. Lars Eller and Matt Grzelcyk each have 7 points with Eller logging 4 goals and 3 assists and Grzelcyk has 7 assists. Marcus Pettersson also has 8 points with 7 assists. In goal for the Penguins, Joel Blomqvist has gone 3-5 with a 3.60 GAA and a .904 save percentage while Tristan Jarry has gone 1-1 with a 5.47 GAA and an .836 save percentage this season. Alex Nedeljkovic is also 2-3-3 with a 3.21 GAA and a .884 save percentage on the year.
Why the Pittsburgh Penguins will win
- The Blue Jackets have lost each of their last six games.
- The Penguins have won each of their last seven games as favorites after coming off overtime.
- The Blue Jackets have failed to cover the puck line in each of their last six games.
- The road team has covered the puck line in four of the Penguins’ last five games.
Columbus Blue Jackets Recap
The Columbus Blue Jackets come into this one looking to bounce back from a 5-2 loss to Seattle last time out. After this game, Columbus will head on the road for a matchup with Montreal.
Blue Jackets Drop 6th Straight
Kirill Marchenko leads the Blue Jackets in scoring with 15 points including 6 goals and a team-high 9 assists while Sean Monahan has 11 points with a team-high 6 goals and 5 assists. Zach Werenski has 10 points with 3 goals and 7 assists while Yegor Chinakhov has 10 points with 4 goals and 6 assists. Cole Sillinger also has 8 points with 6 assists while Mathieu Olivier has 6 points with 4 goals and 2 assists. Damon Severson has 7 points as well with 4 goals and 3 assists on the year. Daniil Tarasov is 3-3-1 with a 3.89 GAA and a .865 save percentage while Elvis Merzlikins is 2-5-1 with a 3.03 GAA and a .896 save percentage this season between the pipes for Columbus.
Why the Columbus Blue Jackets will win
- The Blue Jackets have won five of their last six games as home underdogs against Eastern Conference opponents.
- The Penguins have lost three of their last four games as road favorites against opponents on a losing streak.
- The Blue Jackets have covered the puck line in each of their last six home games against Eastern Conference opponents.
- The Penguins have failed to cover the puck line in 20 of their last 24 games as road favorites after coming off overtime.
Columbus Blue Jackets vs Pittsburgh Penguins Prediction
I’m on the Blue Jackets here. Both of these teams are struggling and are almost on my do-not-bet list, but the difference is that the Penguins are struggling everywhere, while Columbus’ struggles on the losing skid have mostly come on the road. At least at home, they’re a .500 team and I think being back home will be different here. Give me Columbus.