NHL: Columbus Blue Jackets vs St. Louis Blues Odds Preview
Jackets 7-17 Last 24 Games; Blues Clinging To Last WC Spot
The All-Star break is almost upon us and the Columbus Blue Jackets (15-24-10, 40 points) are again one of the worst teams in the National Hockey League. It’s been 2018 since they have been a legitimate over .500 team they finished with 98 points (47-31-4). Only once in franchise history (23 seasons) has the team finished with more than 100 points. The St. Louis Blues (26-20-2, 54 points) are tied with the Los Angeles Kings for the last two wild card spots making games like this a must-win. Oddsmakers have opened the Blues as a -180 favorite (6.5 over -125) but that has been bet down to -175 (6.5 over -120). The puck drops at 8:00 p.m. ET / 5:00 p.m. PT and can be seen on the NHL Network. We start our Jackets vs Blues odds preview with a look at Columbus from a betting perspective.
Jackets vs Blues 
Date, time:
Streaming: Live Sports Stream
Columbus Finds Creative Ways To Lose
The night after blowing a 4-1 3rd period lead to the Vancouver Canucks, which led to a 5-4 overtime win for the Canucks, the Jackets were back at it a night later in Seattle.
Pascal Vincent’s team was flat from the start, allowing three first-period goals, falling into a 3-0 hole that they didn’t answer until the 7:12 mark of the third period. The Jackets closed the gap to 3-2 but their early deficit proved too much, losing 4-2. All this a night after beating the Calgary Flames as a +174 underdog, 5-2. It’s a box of chocolate in Columbus, which is why they have won back-to-back games only twice this season and not since the end of November.
For bettors, only the Ottawa Senators (-11.21 units) and the Chicago Blackhawks (-10.44) have produced less for bettors with -10.02 units lost. For an organization that hasn’t been part of an NHL playoff bracket since the 2019-20 season, the immediate future doesn’t hold much promise.
Blues Hope To Avoid Letdown After Massive Win
St. Louis has won five straight games with their last perhaps being the biggest of all after a 4-3 overtime win against the Los Angeles Kings who they’re battling for the last wild card spot in the Western Conference. Fun fact, it was the fourth straight time the Blues have won by a 4-3 score. In addition to the home win against LA, St. Louis has piled up impressive wins against the Calgary Flames as a +145 underdog, +209 vs. Vancouver, and +156 against Seattle with all three coming on the road. Those plus-money wins have pushed Craig Berube’s team into the second spot of the league’s most profitable teams with 9.86 units won. Only the Vancouver Canucks are better at 10.73 units won.
The Blues are on pace to have their best year against the number, trailing their 2018-19 profit by 1.73 units. As an underdog, St. Louis owns a 20-15 record, and that’s not against the puckline that’s straight-up handing bettors 12.53 units of profit. To put that number in perspective, the Canucks are second with just 7.15 units won and they won’t get a chance to add to that too many more times this year. We conclude our Jackets vs Blues odds preview with our official selection.
We’re On Totals The Rest Of The Way
One thing about betting on hockey and baseball every day of the year, the moneyline can humble you. This fact is brought to light every year when you’re betting against two sports that offer -110 every night. No matter how long one has been in this industry you must be always willing to make adjustments and we’re doing that by focusing on ways to wager closer to the -110 range.
True that you’ll give up those sweet plus money winners but you’ll also be alieving your bankroll of -150 losers. With the way the Blues have been going of late, it would be easy to predict over for tonight’s NHL score but sometimes easy is the proper wager.
We’re being asked to lay -120 with the over but that beats having to lay -175 with the Blues who are worse than the Jackets statically in goals per game (2.96 compared to 2.90). It’s the 3.74 goals per game for Jackets goaltenders this season that makes it very hard to under at any point when they’re involved so we’re not, take the over and lay the -120. That does it for our Jackets vs Blues odds preview, we wish you all the best with your NHL picks and parlays on Tuesday.
