We have a Metropolitan clash on our hands between the 5th place Columbus Blue Jackets and 1st place Carolina Hurricanes.
Carolina were embarrassingly beaten 6-0 last time these sides met and Columbus is currently on an impressive winning streak.
Friday, February 25, 2022 – 07:00 PM EST at PNC Arena
Columbus have been playing amazing hockey as of late and have managed to cover the spread in their previous three NHL games, including a very surprising 6-3 win over the Florida Panthers last night, a game in which they were priced up as +375 dogs.
Columbus has been averaging 4.67 goals per game across their previous 10 matches and they will be well and truly put to the test tonight against one of the top two defensive teams in the league.
The Hurricanes are almost guaranteed to finish top of their division, they have a three-point lead over 2nd place New York and have played one game less and are a much better team this season compared to NY so they should have no problems disposing of them.
The reason we make the argument that they could be easing up a little and not playing as hard has to do with the fact they have only covered the spread in 2 of their previous 10 league games. They are joint top of the league in goals against per game, having allowed only 2.42 all season long.
*Trends should never be your main source of information when it comes to making your NHL betting picks, they are merely guidelines and mostly irrelevant information but nonetheless can be interesting to read.
Columbus Blue Jackets
Carolina Hurricanes
Moneyline: Although Columbus have won 7 of their last 8 NHL games they are priced as high as +255 on the moneyline. You will have to lay a lot of juice to play the home team here at -330.
Total: Tonight’s line has been set at 6.5 and is heavily juiced to -125 towards the over, whilst the under is coming in at +113 best available with BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review).
Puck Line: The Blue Jackets to cover the +1.5 PK line is only -105 which is the best NHL odds on this market we can recall for quite some time. Meanwhile, the Hurricanes are merely only -120 to cover the -1.5 spread.
Although Carolina might be going through a lull in their play and the Blue Jackets seem to be clicking into gear, we can’t ignore the fact that the Blue Jackets have allowed the most shots against per game in the entire NHL with an average of 35.4, meanwhile, the Hurricanes have allowed the 3rd least amount of shots.
Not only are the Blue Jackets on a back-to-back here tonight but it will also be their 3rd game in 4 nights, hence the reason why the Hurricanes are juiced so heavily, plus the fact they are an all-around better team.
We might be a little bold in our prediction here, but we think the build of fixtures plus the fact Carolina were humiliated 6-0 to the Blue Jackets last time out will be the story of this game and we think the Hurricanes have the ability to win this one by 3+ goals, officially we think Carolina to cover the -1.5 PK line is the best bet, although we have never before placed a minus PK line for minus money, let’s hope it pays off here.
We also suggest sprinkling a little on Carolina's alternative PK line at -2.5 at odds of +155 best priced up with Everygame (visit our Everygame Review). Admittedly the best value here is most likely Columbus +1.5 at -105 and although it’s a numbers game, this one time we are ignoring the numbers as we see Carolina out for some sweet revenge.
NHL Pick: Carolina Hurricanes -1.5 (-120) at BetOnline
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.