Face-off: 1900 ET, 22/04/2022
Arena: Nationwide Arena
Ottawa showed great spirit to win a shootout at Vancouver on Tuesday and look worth sticking with when they travel to Columbus.
The Blue Jackets will be happy to return home after three straight defeats on the road but are still rated uneasy favourites on current form.
We reckon 2.0 for an away win on the money line is a value bet for our Columbus Blue Jackets vs Ottawa Senators predictions.
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Columbus Blue Jackets Odds
Columbus followed up losses in Los Angeles and Anaheim by going down 3-2 at San Jose, with slow starts being an issue in each game.
The Blue Jackets conceded inside five minutes in all of those matches and were 3-0 behind against the Sharks in the first period.
Centre Jack Roslovic said: “It sucks. We say our identity is to come back, but you can’t try to come back every night. It’s just too difficult to do in this league.
“It’s about being mentally focused right from the first puck drop – and I guess we just didn’t have it on this road trip.”
Injuries to Patrik Laine, Boone Jenner and Zach Werenski have robbed Columbus of three of their top five points scorers.
With that trio set to miss out again, 1.9 for Ottawa to score first stands out from the NHL odds.
Ottawa Senators Odds
Admittedly, the Senators were also caught cold when trailing 2-0 early on at Vancouver but they rallied to prevail 4-3 via penalties.
Considering the Canucks had won six straight and were chasing a wild card spot, that was a pretty plucky performance.
Alex Formenton scored twice and Nikita Zaitsev had two assists, while Filip Gustavsson made 34 saves.
“We just played with way more emotion,” commented head coach DJ Smith. “We got down early but we stayed with it.”
Ottawa have some exciting young prospects who have had to grow up fast this season, but that will stand them in good stead for the future.
A reasonably kind run-in could allow them to finish this campaign off strongly and set the tone for next term.
Let’s add 4.1 for an away win in regular time and both teams to score at least twice to our NHL predictions.
Additional stats
Last result:
San Jose 3-2 COLUMBUS
Vancouver 3-4 OTTAWA (OT)
Season head-to-head: Ottawa 1-4 Columbus, Columbus 1-2 Ottawa
