Montreal Canadiens vs. Columbus Blue Jackets Prediction, NHL Odds
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Jeremy Perry
The Montreal Canadiens have lost three out of their last four games – including an awful showing against the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday. Buffalo whooped them in every stage of the game, defeating them 7-2 on their own home ice. They now look to bounce back when they travel to play the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Blue Jackets had themselves an awful start to the season but they’ve now started to pick up the pace a little bit. They’ve won three out of their last four, and have some pep in their step after beating the Florida Panthers 5-3 on Sunday.
Canadiens vs. Blue Jackets NHL Betting Odds
Montreal has won five out of their last seven games against teams from the Eastern Conference. However, they’ve won just nine out of their last 31 games against teams from the Metropolitan Division in particular. These teams have been a problem for them.
As for the total, the over has in five out of their last six games overall and remains 8-2 in their past 10 when playing the second game of a back-to-back.
On the other hand, the Blue Jackets are 4-1 in their last five against teams with a losing record on the season but just 12-25 in their last 37 matchups overall. A lot of their recent success is beating bad or struggling teams.
Montreal Canadiens
The worst part about their 7-2 defeat to Buffalo was that the Sabres were on an eight-game losing streak at the time. They couldn’t do anything right but Montreal made them look like Stanley Cup champs.
Consistently taking advantage of power play opportunities continue to be the biggest problem for this squad. They went 0-6 on power play chances against Buffalo, which includes a 4-on-3 opportunity in the second period. Even one goal with the man-advantage could have changed the trajectory of the game.
Goaltender Jake Allen allowed seven goals on 38 shots faced. He has a lousy .891 save percentage on the year, which is a big reason this team has dropped three of four. He’s allowed 34 goals in his last eight games (4.3 goals per game), which is about as bad as it gets. Don’t be surprised if we see Samuel Montembeault in this one.
Columbus Blue Jackets
The Blue Jackets have certainly been loving their home ice lately. Four out of their past five games played at home have resulted in victories. And it really seems to be helping their offense with an extra boost. They’ve now scored 22 goals in their last five home games – including a five-goal output when Montreal recently visited.
Daniil Tarasov is coming off a strong game as goaltender was phenomenal against the Panthers, stopping 47 shots on the night. 50 shots faced were the most that he’s ever gone up against in his career up to this point. It also broke a bad losing streak for Tarasov as he hadn’t won since October 23rd.
It’s likely that we will be seeing Joonas Korpisalo in the crease for this game. Tarasov will probably get a break for a day after that performance and Elvis Merzlikins is expected to be out for at least a week with a hip injury. Korpisalo is 3-2-1 with a 4.16 GAA and a .897 save percentage. Those numbers aren’t great and it could lead to a high-scoring affair here.
