Blue Jackets vs. Senators Prediction: NHL Betting Odds
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Jeremy Perry
The Blue Jackets played on Friday night in New York and earned the win, which meant that they clinched a playoff spot. Since they can’t move up or down, it will be interesting to see how much effort they put into the game or if they decide to rest starters. As for the Senators, they are the worst team in the NHL but have played well over their final 11 games, so they might view this as a good opportunity to end their season on a high note.
Blue Jackets vs Senators Betting Analysis
The Blue Jackets owned a sparkling 24-14-2 record. They are 24-5 in its last 29 games as a of -210 or greater and are 8-2 in their last 10 games against teams with losing records.
Meanwhile, the Senators have actually managed to produce an 18-18-4 record on home ice so far this season. Ottawa has shown signs of life with some notable wins at home of late, including a pair of victories over the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Senators head in to this matchup with a 6-5 record over their last 11 games overall, which is decent for them when you consider they had just one win in their previous 11 games before that.
Columbus Blue Jackets
It will be interesting to see what kind of effort the Blue Jackets produce after securing the necessary two points they needed to clinch a playoff spot on Friday. The Blue Jackets are set to face the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round, so they may want to give their team a rest before that showdown. At the same time, the fact that the Blue Jackets will have to play the Washington Capitals if they leapfrog the Carolina Hurricanes in the Wild Card standings could offer them the incentive they need to keep pushing.
Columbus has played some of its best hockey down the final stretch of the regular season as they’ve now won six of their last seven contests. With former Sens Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel back in Ottawa, this team should be focused and committed to picking up another two points with a win to close out the regular season regardless of what happened the night before in New York.
Ottawa Senators
The Senators have some positives to take from this season despite finishing with the worst record in the NHL. Thomas Chabot had an outstanding year on defense, rookie Brady Tkachuk made strides throughout his first season and the team picked up a number of draft picks in its own trades this season to limit the blow of potentially missing out on the first-overall pick in this year’s draft (traded to Colorado).
The Senators have picked up some important wins down the stretch including back-to-back victories over Toronto that should help the team’s confidence looking forward to next season. Still, Ottawa will be outmatched by Columbus in a game in which it has nothing to play for on Saturday night. The Blue Jackets need this game to put themselves in better playoff position, so it’s likely the Sens will get worked.
CLB
OTT