Columbus Blue Jackets vs Florida Panthers Prediction: Motivation is Crucial

Prediction for the NHL Columbus Blue Jackets vs Florida Panthers match which will take place on April 2nd. Who will turn out to be stronger? Check the team conditions! Several betting options are available.

Columbus is finishing the regular season, which was not successful. It was hardly worth believing that the Jackets would be able to get into the playoffs, but a desperate last place in the Eastern Conference standings is different than the result that the teams dreamed of. The guys from Ohio have yet to reach even their previous year's level, showing modest results during the season. In the last eight meetings, Brad Larsen's wards have suffered six defeats, winning only Washington and Columbus – 7:6 and 5:4, and even both times only in OT.

Florida is another team that has become weaker than last year. The Southerners took first place in the NHL summary standings in the previous regular season, winning the President'sTrophy. However, there was a failure in the playoffs, and then they said "goodbye" to the coaching staff, inviting Paul Maurice. With him, the Panthers risk not getting into the cup battles at all, being currently only in ninth place in the Eastern Conference standings. At the same time, in the second half of March, Florida suddenly allowed a 4-match series without points, but in the last two games, they beat Toronto and Montreal – 3:2 and 5:2.

The regular season's finish is when tournament motivation becomes crucial. Columbus has no idea what it is, as they are last in the Eastern Conference standings and will not move anywhere from there. The Panthers have a completely different situation. They have the ninth place; therefore, there are still chances to get into the cup battles, but allowing mistakes is unacceptable. 

The game between Columbus and Florida recently became distinguished by a high-scoring activity. In the previous five meetings, the opponents jointly scored 44 goals against each other (8.80 on average per game), which is a good result. And now we have the right to expect a scoring performance since the Jackets have nothing to lose, so they have fun playing all the games.