After their two-goal loss to the Penguins in Game 1 of their first-round series, the Blue Jackets still sit at just two franchise playoff wins and they’re now +255 underdogs to advance to the second round. For the defending Stanley Cup champions, the big story is the health of Matt Murray. He was injured while warming up for the series opener and Marc-Andre Fleury stepped in for him, stopping 31 of the Jackets’ 32 shots.
- With Matt Murray’s status still up in the air, Marc-Andre Fleury will also start Game 2.
- The Penguins are 6-1 SU in their last 7 games in the playoffs as favorite.
- The Blue Jackets are 0-4 SU and 1-3 on the puckline in their last 4 games in Pittsburgh.
The injury list just keeps growing for the Penguins. Luckily, they just happen to have one of the best goaltender tandems in the league and they’ll be confident the two-time Stanley Cup-winning Fleury can fill in nicely for Murray while he heals up. Although he struggled a little in his limited starts in the regular season, the Flower has excelled against the Blue Jackets, posting a career .925 save percentage in 16 career starts against them.
It took the Pens a period to get warmed up on Wednesday but once they were, there was no stopping them. They outshot Columbus 26-16 in the final two frames and the likes of Phil Kessel and Evgeni Malkin were flying around the ice. The pair contributed four points in the contest.
Pittsburgh is the best offensive team in the NHL when playing on home ice and showed why in Game 1. The Pens made good on one of their three power-play chances and they dominated the time on attack metrics after a forgettable first period. They were the only favorite to cash a puckline bet in the Sportsbook round of postseason games and they’ll come into Game 2 as a fave of around -170 on the moneyline.
Sportsbook Odds & Computer Pick
Sportsbooks such as Sportsbook had the Pittsburgh Penguins as -162 moneyline favorites in this particular NHL betting matchup earlier. The over under total, meanwhile, was set early at 5.5 before betting started to move the line at Sportsbook.
Prediction-scoring formulas run on this game pick a potential 3.9-1.4 result in favor of the Penguins. View the computer score prediction and who will win the pick on the moneyline for all upcoming NHL matchups here.
Columbus Blue Jackets vs Pittsburgh Penguins Matchup
Team Betting Records & Power Rankings
The Columbus Blue Jackets will try to spoil to the party on Friday; they are 50-25-8 this season, while the Penguins are 51-21-11. Columbus is 32-45-6 on the totals; Pittsburgh is 47-31-5. Stay Informed: follow us on Twitter for odds specials, betting line moves and Pittsburgh vs Columbus injuries news.
According to new NHL Power Rankings here at Odds Shark, it's the No. 5-ranked Pittsburgh Penguins and the No. 26-rated Columbus Blue Jackets in this matchup.
Statistical Matchup
Offensively, the game matches up the Pittsburgh Penguins No. 1-ranked offense (3.43 goals per game) against a Columbus Blue Jackets defense that ranks No. 2 at 2.39 goals per game allowed. The Penguins Sportsbook has clicked at a 23.19% rate while the Blue Jackets have a 82.82% rate on the penalty kill.
Recent Outings Betting Recap
Columbus lost its last outing, a 3-1 result against the Penguins on April 12. Bettors who backed the Penguins at -159 on the moneyline won on the day, and the total score (4) sent UNDER bettors to the payout window.
- Columbus is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games
- Columbus is 1-7 SU in its last 8 games
- The total has gone UNDER in 8 of Columbus's last 11 games
- Columbus is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games on the road
- Pittsburgh is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games
- Pittsburgh is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games
- The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Pittsburgh's last 6 games
- Pittsburgh is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games at home
Next Betting Matchups
Columbus home to Pittsburgh, Sunday, April 16th
