Columbus Blue Jackets vs Pittsburgh Penguins Prediction: Expect a win for the guests

Prediction for the NHL Columbus Blue Jackets vs Pittsburgh Penguins match, which will take place on April 14. Check the team conditions and choose several betting options.

Columbus continues to go through a personnel rebuilding process that is not even close to completion. Last season the Jackets seemed to be slowly getting better, but in his second year has not made any progress. At the end of the regular season, the Blue and Reds fell apart and allowed nine losses in their last nine meetings, beating only Ottawa 4:3 in overtime. Such a weak stretch has finally placed Columbus in last place in the Eastern Conference standings.

Pittsburgh is the main loser of the current season. There is a lot to say about the regular season performance of the Penguins, as there were ups and downs, but at the finish line, fate gave them a chance to decide their destiny in terms of fighting for the playoffs. In their last two games, it was enough to beat hopeless Chicago and Columbus, who are proudly at the bottom of the conference standings, but they managed to stumble on their first opponent. The day before, the Pennsylvanians lost to the Hawks, 2:5, dropping to ninth place in the Eastern Conference, and only a miracle will get them into the Cup battles.

On the evening of April 12, Pittsburgh's chances of making the playoffs were next to nil since they had sensationally lost to Chicago the night before, missing out on an eighth place to the Islanders. The team from New York is unlikely to decide to return the Penguins a ticket to the cup battles. Therefore the game against Columbus will become a formality for the Pennsylvanians. In the fight with the main outsider of the conference, Black and Yellow should win, so we suggest the bet on the victory of Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh has beaten Columbus in the last eight consecutive head-to-head encounters, but especially great were the Penguins in the five previous head-to-head battles, when they scored 25 pucks (5.00 average per game) against the Jackets - an excellent figure. Ohio State has the worst defense in the Eastern Conference, allowing 323 pucks (4.04 average per game) in 80 regular-season games, something the Pennsylvanians should take advantage of. On this basis, the best option for the prediction seems to be an individual total of Pittsburgh over 3.5, and separately we should bet on the total over 1.5 points of Evgeny Malkin.