Columbus Blue Jackets vs Boston Bruins Prediction: The Bears are playing a very pragmatic game

Prediction for the NHL match which will take place on January 3. Who will turn out to be stronger? Check the team conditions! Several betting options are available.

Columbus recently looks very decent, but only in comparison to their own results in the first part of the regular season. At first, the Jackets were losing series, which made them one of the league's outsiders, but now they are clinging to points. In their last ten battles, they have lost only three times in regulation time, three more times in overtime, and in four cases they have won. In the three previous games, they have picked up points, beating Toronto 6:5, while New Jersey and Buffalo have lost outside of three periods, 3:4 and 2:3, respectively. That's good enough to sit in 15th place in the Eastern Conference standings.

Boston is a much more ambitious, stable and skillful team, which is among the main favorites of the season. It was the same the year before, when the Bears had a phenomenal regular season, except that they finished their Cup campaign in the first round. Now they'll try to work on their mistakes, and for now they're in great shape and performing well. They had a bad streak in late December, when they lost four in a row, but then they beat Buffalo 4:1, New Jersey 5:2, and Detroit 5:3 the day before. This run allowed the Black-and-Yellow to maintain their second place in the Eastern Conference standings.

Columbus and Boston are currently located at different poles of the Eastern Conference standings: the hosts of the upcoming confrontation occupy the penultimate position, and the guests are in second place. This fact alone indicates that the Bears are the favorites in this pairing. In their favor is firm and the statistics of head-to-head meetings, according to which they won seven of the last eight meetings. In addition, the Back-and-Yellow have an excellent current form, as they have won the last three games in a row, and in regulation time.

The confrontation between Columbus and Boston recently turns out to be very poor in goal. In six previous head-to-head meetings, the rivals have combined to score 27 pucks (4.50 average per game). The Bears play very pragmatic, and the Jackets are unlikely to risk playing open hockey with one of the favorites of the season.