Face-off: 2200 ET, 14/12/2021
Venue: Rogers Arena
Columbus have won their past four head-to-head meetings with Vancouver following last month’s 4-2 triumph at Nationwide Arena.
The Blue Jackets do not have a strong record on the road this season but have rarely been involved in blowouts of late, with six straight games being decided by just one or two goals.
With the Canucks also coming off a trio of tight tussles, 4.1 for this contest to go to overtime is a value pick for our Vancouver Canucks vs Columbus Blue Jackets predictions.
Vancouver Canucks Odds
Vancouver will be in great spirits after following up a couple of overtime victories by shading Carolina 2-1 to make it four straight home wins.
The Canucks are still second from bottom in the Pacific Division but have improved to 12-15-2 since Bruce Boudreau replaced Travis Green.
Boudreau is the first head coach in franchise history to begin his reign with a quartet of triumphs.
“Let’s go for five,” he declared. “We’re behind the eight ball, so we’ve got to keep going after it.”
The form of goaltender Thatcher Demko has helped while Boudreau has got the defence pressing harder.
Brock Boeser added: “You can feel the confidence building and it’s a lot better when you’re winning hockey games in the locker room and everyone’s excited to come to the rink.”
JT Miller has been productive all season and has four assists in the last five games, so 1.72 he gets at least one more here stands out from the NHL odds.
Columbus Blue Jackets Odds
Columbus are fifth in the Metropolitan Division and that feels like a fair reflection of their level this term.
The Blue Jackets recovered from a 2-1 shootout loss at home Anaheim by shading Seattle 5-4 in overtime on the road.
Despite blowing a 4-1 lead in the third period, Columbus rallied via a Jake Bean strike early in the extra stanza.
Head coach Brad Larsen said: “They’re not always Picassos. Sometimes you have to win ugly.
“We hadn’t had a lot of success on the road, so we found a way. It was good.”
Columbus are joint-fifth in the NHL in terms of P3 goals scored with 34 but have also conceded 28 times in the closing stanza.
Let’s add 2.3 for both teams to score in the final 20 minutes of regular time to our NHL predictions.
Additional stats
Last result:
VANCOUVER 2-1 Carolina
Seattle 4-5 COLUMBUS (OT)
Head-to-head: Columbus 4-2 Vancouver, Vancouver 1-2 Columbus, Columbus 5-3 Vancouver, Vancouver 0-5 Columbus
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