New Jersey Devils vs Columbus Blue Jackets Betting Pick & Prediction 12/16/23
Planning on watching today’s Devils and Blue Jackets game? Catch the action at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, OH, as the Blue Jackets hosts this showdown at 7:00 ET on BSOH. The Devils are the favorites in this Metropolitan division matchup against Blue Jackets. The over/under for the game is set at 6.5 goals.
NEW JERSEY DEVILS VS COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS BETTING PICK
The Pick: Columbus Blue Jackets +1.5
This game will be played at Nationwide Arena at 7:00 ET on Saturday, December 16th.
WHY BET THE COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS:
- The Devils enter this game as 1.5-goal favorites and in our projections and we anticipate them winning by a score of 4-3.
- Take the Devils on the moneyline
- On the puck line, we like Blue Jackets (+1.5)
Will New Jersey Win on the Road?
So far this season, the Devils have an overall record of 15-11-1. On the road, New Jersey is 9-5-0 and 6-6-1 at home. They are currently positioned 6th in the Eastern Metropolitan division and 11th in the Eastern conference.
Regarding the puck line, New Jersey comes in with a 7-20 record. On the road against the puck line, they are 6-8, while their home record is 1-12. For the season, New Jersey’s games have finished with an average of 7 goals per game. Their average over/under line for the season is 6.5. Overall, the Devils have an over/under record of 18-9-0.
In their last three games away from home, the Devils have a straight up record of 2-1 while going 1-2 vs the spread. The team’s offense averaged 2 goals per game in these contests.
For their offensive performance, the Devils come in averaging 3.5 goals per game this season, which is 12th in the NHL. In the category of shots on goal per game, they are 19th in the league. Looking at how the Devils’ offense is performing during power plays, they are 3rd in power play goals and 21st in shorthanded goals.
New Jersey’s leading scorer is Tyler Toffoli. So far, he has 12 goals which is 39th in the NHL. Toffoli also comes into the game with 9 assists.
Coming into the game, the Blue Jackets’ defense is 14th in takeaways at 6.4 takeaways per contest. Overall, they are giving up 3.3 goals per game which is 2nd in the NHL.
Goalie Vitek Vanecek comes into the game having made 17 starts this season. So far, his record is 11-5 and he has a save percentage of 0.722%.
Can the Columbus Offense Score Enough at Home?
This season, the Blue Jackets have put together an overall record of 10-16-5. When playing on the road, Columbus has gone 3-8-3, while their home record stands at 7-8-2. In the Eastern Metropolitan division, they are currently 8th, and in the Eastern conference, they come into the game sitting 15th.
When it came to the puck line, Columbus heads in with a 19-12 record. On the road, their mark is 10-4 and their overall home performance is 9-8 vs. the puck line. This season, Columbus’ games have an average of 6.6 goals per game. The average over/under number for the season is 6.4. The Blue Jackets come in with an over/under performance of 18-13-0.
Across the Blue Jackets last three home games, the team averaged 3 goals per game while allowing 5. Their record vs the puck line in these contests was 1-2, while going 1-2 straight-up.
On the offensive side, the Blue Jackets are scoring an 3 goals per game this season, ranking 14th in the NHL. When it came to shots on target per game, they are 12th in the league. Looking at how the Blue Jackets’ offense is performing during power plays, they are 25th in power play goals and 32nd in shorthanded goals.
Columbus’ leading scorer is Boone Jenner. So far, he has 13 goals which is 28th in the NHL. Along with his scoring, he has come up with 5 assists so far.
Entering the game, the Blue Jackets’ defense ranks 14th in takeaways, averaging 6.4 takeaways per contest. In the NHL, they currently stand at 2nd in terms of goals allowed, giving up an average of 3.3 goals per game.
Columbus goalie Daniil Tarasov will be playing in his first game of the season. Last year, he played in 17 games and had a record of 4-11. His save percentage for the year was 0.5%.