Two franchises that split their season series 1-1 last year, the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Anaheim Ducks take the ice at the Honda Center. Prime Ticket will air this East-West matchup, which gets underway at 9 p.m. ET on Sunday, November 4.
Columbus Blue Jackets at Anaheim Ducks Odds
Columbus comes into the contest as the favorite with a -120 moneyline. The line for Anaheim sits at +100 and the Over/Under (O/U) is placed at 6 goals. The odds for betting the total sit at -105 money on the over and -115 on the under.
Columbus is 7-6 straight up (SU) and has lost 0.7 units for moneyline bettors this year. Seven of its games have gone over the total, while five have gone under and none have pushed. As the road team in 2018-19, the Jackets are 4-2 SU.
Columbus has converted on 12.0 percent of its power play opportunities thus far. That’s a noticeable drop-off from last season, when it was ranked 25th in the NHL by scoring on 17.0 percent of its extra-man chances. Its penalty kill has weakened a bit since last year, as the team’s gone from successfully defending 75.0 percent of all opponent power plays (ranked 29th overall last year) to 73.8 percent this year.
For the team as a whole, Columbus has been penalized just 3.7 times per game in the 2018-19 season. Last year, that figure was the best mark in the league at 3.1 penalties per game. After serving an average of 7.2 penalty minutes per game a season ago the team has had to stave off opponent power plays for 7.8 minutes per matchup this year.
Averaging 27.6 saves per game with a .895 save percentage, Sergei Bobrovsky (3-6) has been the best option in goal for Columbus this year. Bobrovsky did just play last night, however, so head coach John Tortorella may decide to rest him and instead turn to Joonas Korpisalo (4-1 record, .881 save percentage, 3.99 goals against average).
The visiting Blue Jackets will be led by Artemi Panarin and Cam Atkinson. Panarin (15 points) is up to five goals and 10 assists, and has recorded two or more points in five different games. Atkinson has six goals and five assists to his name (and has registered a point in seven games).
On the other side of the rink, Anaheim is 5-9 straight up (SU) and has lost 4.8 units for moneyline bettors this year. Eight of its games have gone under the total, while five have gone over and just one has pushed. It’s 2-5 SU at home this year.
Anaheim has converted on 19.4 percent of its power play opportunities this season, a figure that’s right around league average. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 15th overall, and it’s successfully killed off 78.7 percent of all opponent power plays.
The Ducks have been penalized 4.0 times per game this season. Last year, that number was at 4.3, the third-highest mark in the NHL. After serving an average of 10.2 penalty minutes per game a year ago, the team has been forced to kill penalties for 8.6 minutes per matchup this season.
John Gibson (34.7 saves per game) has been the top netminder in the crease for Anaheim. Gibson has four wins, seven losses, and three OT losses to his credit and has registered a .936 save percentage and 2.39 goals against average this year.
The Ducks offense will be led by Ryan Getzlaf (two goals, eight assists) and Rickard Rakell (three goals, seven assists).
Columbus Blue Jackets at Anaheim Ducks Betting Picks
Free Prediction: SU Winner – Ducks, O/U – Over
Betting Trends
- After going 4-7 in games decided by a shootout last year, Anaheim is off to a 1-2 start in shootouts this season. Columbus was 6-4 in shootouts last year and has yet to participate in one this time around.
- The under has hit in three of Anaheim’s last five games.
- After averaging the sixth-most shots in the league last season (33.6 per game), Columbus has attempted 33.2 shots per contest overall this season, and 30.0 in its last five road games.
- Anaheim has managed just 1.9 goals per contest (while allowing 3.6) on its seven-game losing skid.
- Columbus skaters created 21.8 hits per game last season, while the Ducks logged 24.2 hits per matchup.
