The Columbus Blue Jackets and the New York Rangers meet in NHL action from Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night. Let’s dive into the odds, injuries, matchup history and make a prediction for this game.
Odds
New York is listed as a -365 home favorite while Columbus is a +300 road underdog. The total for this game is set at 6.5 goals.
Injuries
For Columbus, Elvis Merzlikins is questionable for this game while Mathieu Olivier and Patrik Laine are both out until late April. Erik Gudbranson is out for the season and Nick Blankenburg is out indefinitely with an ankle issue. For New York, Ryan Lindgren is questionable for this game with an upper body injury.
Matchup History
New York’s 3-1 win over Columbus back on January 16th, 2023, snapped Columbus’ two-game win streak in this head-to-head matchup.
Trends
Columbus is 12-39 in their last 51 road games and 15-41 in their last 56 games against a team with a winning record while the over is 5-0 in their last 5 games overall. New York is 4-1 in their last 5 home games and 6-1 in their last 7 games overall while the under is 5-1-1 in their last 7 games following a win.
Pick
I’m going to back the Rangers on the puck line here. Columbus is just in a bad spot, and they’re simply not a good hockey team that’s just playing out the string at this point. The Rangers are fighting for the Metro division title and while Columbus won’t openly say they’re tanking, every win for them here on out does much more harm than good. I’ll take the Rangers -1.5 here.