Pierre-Luc Dubois, Gustav Nyquist, and the Columbus Blue Jackets will face off against Phillip Danault, Tomas Tatar, and the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre in an Eastern Conference tilt. The opening face-off is at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday, February 2, and you can catch the game live on Fox Sports Ohio.
Columbus Blue Jackets vs. Montreal Canadiens Odds
Columbus is 27-25 straight up (SU) and has netted moneyline bettors 6.1 units this season. Through 52 regular season contests, 32 of its games have gone under the total, while 18 have gone over and just one has pushed. This 2019-20 Blue Jackets team is 11-14 SU on the road.
Columbus has converted on just 17.4 percent of its power play opportunities this season, a figure that’s ranked 24th in the NHL. Additionally, its penalty kill is ranked ninth overall, and it’s successfully killed off 81.9 percent of all penalties..
Averaging 25.7 saves per game with a .913 save percentage, Joonas Korpisalo (17-15-5) has been the primary option in goal for Columbus this season. If head coach John Tortorella chooses to rest him, however, Columbus may go with Elvis Merzlikins (9-12-5), who has a .926 save percentage and 2.39 goals against average this year.
Over on the other bench, Montreal is 24-29 straight up (SU) and has lost 12.7 units for moneyline bettors thus far. Through 53 regular season contests, 26 of its games have gone under the total, while 23 have gone over and just three have pushed. The team is 11-17 SU at home this season.
The Canadiens have converted on just 20.4 percent of their power play opportunities this year, a figure that’s right around league average. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 18th overall, and it’s successfully killed off 79.2 percent of all penalties.
Carey Price has stopped 27.7 shots per game as the top option in goal for the Canadiens. Price has 22 wins, 21 losses, and four overtime losses to his name and has maintained a mediocre 2.74 goals against average and a .911 save percentage this year.
Columbus Blue Jackets at Montreal Canadiens Betting Predictions
Prediction: SU Winner – Canadiens, O/U – Over
Betting Trends
A majority (58.3 percent) of Montreal’s wins have been by two or more goals, and the team’s 14-12 overall in such games. 11 of Columbus’ 27 wins (40.7 percent) have been decided by two or more goals.
The Canadiens are 7-10 in games where they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent and 18-21 when they’re in the penalty box for fewer than 10 minutes, total.
Montreal is 3-1 in games decided by a shootout this season while Columbus is 0-2 in shootouts.
The under has hit in four of Columbus’ last five games.
Columbus has averaged 5.6 giveaways over its last five home games, an improvement from its season average of 9.1 giveaways per game (ranked 11th in the league).
Montreal is ranked 26th this season with 12.2 giveaways per game. That figure has regressed lately, as the team’s averaged 14.7 giveaways over its last 10 games and 14.2 giveaways over its last five.
The Canadiens this season have registered the sixth-most hits in the league (27.0 per game).
