Columbus Blue Jackets vs Toronto Maple Leafs: Maple Leafs will take two points from Ohio

Prediction for the NHL Columbus Blue Jackets vs Toronto Maple Leafs match, which will take place on February 23. Check the team conditions and choose several betting options.

Columbus continues their desperate battle to make the playoffs. Recently, it seemed as if there was no chance of a cup battle, but Brad Larsen's side has been on an excellent run of late, gradually climbing towards the coveted top eight. In the last nine meetings, the Jackets have managed seven wins and two losses, their best stretch of the season. The Blues and Reds have been incredibly productive offensively, as they defeated Chicago and Buffalo 7:4 and 7:3 in their last two games, respectively. Such a strong run has allowed Columbus to climb to tenth place in the Eastern Conference standings, but the gap to the top-8 is still too broad.

Toronto has another good regular season, but it doesn't make much sense since they haven't been able to get past the first round of the playoffs since 2004 anyway. We can only enjoy the Maple Leafs' success in the regular season, where they continue to play some spectacular and productive hockey. Sheldon Keefe's team even managed to win six straight games in January and February, and now they've alternated between a pair of wins and a pair of losses. The day before, Toronto lost to Montreal 2:5, although the Canadiens are the league's hopeless underdogs. The Maple Leafs themselves dropped to sixth place in the Eastern Conference standings.

Columbus has made good progress of late, winning seven out of nine games. Still, they've also had some pretty decent opponents in this stretch, with immediate defeats against Calgary and Florida. They will have to fight with Toronto in the upcoming match, which has an excellent selection of performers. There is no doubt that after the 2020 playoffs, the Maple Leafs will have no problems with their attitude, so the chances of success for the Jackets are close to the minimum. We suggest betting on Toronto to win for 1.37.

Columbus and Toronto are often rich in scoring in the regular season. Even back in the days when John Tortorella was in charge of the Jackets, we can undoubtedly expect a goal-scoring feast now. In the last seven head-to-head encounters, the opponents combined for 48 goals (6.86 average per game), which is very respectable even by NHL standards. With this in mind, we suggest betting on a total over 6.5 for 1.85.

Auston Matthews continues his tough battle for the top scorer title at the end of the current regular season. The American has already scored 33 goals in 46 games, which is a powerful performance in itself. He currently shares second place with Chris Kreider, just two pucks behind Leon Draisaitl. In the head-to-head clash with Columbus, the 24-year-old hockey player will have an opportunity to improve his stats. We suggest betting on Auston Matthews Total Over 0.5 for 1.905.