The Columbus Blue Jackets (31-20-14) host the Minnesota Wild (31-25-7) Friday at Nationwide Arena for a 7 p.m. ET puck drop, as they try to stick around in the Metropolitan Division playoff race. You can catch this game on ESPN+. We analyze the Capitals-Jets sports betting odds and lines, while providing NHL betting tips and picks around this matchup.
Wild at Blue Jackets: Projected starting goalies
Devan Dubnyk vs. Joonas Korpisalo
Dubnyk is coming off a loss to the St. Louis Blues Sunday in which he allowed four goals on 26 shots. He is 11-15-2 on the season with a .892 save percentage and 3.34 goals against average.
Korpisalo comes into Friday at 18-10-4 through 31 starts and two relief appearances. He has a .914 save percentage and 2.48 goals against average. He returned to the net Monday to stop 14 of 15 shots in a win over the Ottawa Senators in his first start in nearly two months.
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Wild at Blue Jackets: Odds, picks and betting tips
Odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports for a full list.
Odds last updated at 10:10 a.m. ET.
Prediction
Blue Jackets 3, Wild 1
Moneyline (ML)
The Wild (+105) are coming off back-to-back wins, including a 7-1 drubbing of the lowly Detroit Red Wings Thursday with backup G Alex Stalock in net. There is reason for concern since they exhausted their goal-scoring efforts heading into Nationwide Arena to face a much tougher BLUE JACKETS (-129) squad. Columbus is just 1-4-5 over its last 10 games, but four of its last five outings went to overtime or a shootout before a 5-4 regulation loss to these Wild Tuesday in the first half of the home-and-home.
Side with the better goaltender and take the Jackets to win in regulation, overtime or a shootout for a $7.50 profit on a $10 bet. No team has more extra-time losses than Columbus this season. It’s a luck-based trend that needs to be bucked.
Puck Line/Against the Spread (ATS)
Get better value by backing the BLUE JACKETS (-1.5, +220) to win by at least 2 goals at home against a tired opponent with a lackluster goaltender. The Jackets dropped the first head-to-head meeting 5-4 with third-stringer Matiss Kivlenieks between the pipes. Korpisalo will turn the tides.
Over/Under (O/U)
Play the UNDER 5.5 (-115) after Minnesota’s goal eruption Thursday. The Red Wings aren’t a good comparison and do little to help measure a team’s success. The Jackets are 7-3 against the Over/Under across their last 10 games while the Wild are 5-5 across the same stretch. Korpisalo has allowed just one or two goals in each of his last five outings dating back to mid-December.
Esten’s NHL betting record: 258-241
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