Montreal Canadiens vs. Columbus Blue Jackets November 23 Betting Preview

Alright, Blue Jackets and Ohio hockey fans, we've got one more night of NHL hockey before the league joins us on Thanksgiving for as much food as you can eat and all-day NFL football.

The good news is that after losing a not-so-close decision 6-1 to the Detroit Red Wings, the Columbus Blue Jackets bounced back and defeated the Florida Panthers 5-3.

We have a familiar recent foe arriving in Ohio: the Montreal Canadiens. The Blue Jackets and Canadiens met on November 17, where CBJ defeated Montreal 6-4.

Columbus Blue Jackets Preview

The Columbus Blue Jackets enter Wednesday night's matchup with a 7-10-1 record. The Blue Jackets are averaging 3.06 goals per game on 29.9 shots. We know the Blue Jackets were in for a tough year, so it's not surprising that CBJ is averaging 4.33 goals against per game on 37.3 shots per game.

The Blue Jackets defeated the Florida Panthers 5-3 in their last outing. Yegor Chinakhov, Kent Johnson, Sean Kuraly, Johnny Gaudreau, and Boone Jenner scored for Columbus. The real story was Daniil Tarasov, who is back in the lineup to replace Elvis Merzlikins (injured reserve). 

Tarasov made forty-seven saves to get the win and improve all of his stats. He has a 2-3-0 record, with a 3.46 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage. 

However, we think Joonas Korpisalo will get the start for CBJ. Korpisalo has a 3-2-1 record, a 4.16 goals-against average, and a .897 save percentage.

Montreal Canadiens Preview

The Montreal Canadiens enter Wednesday night's matchup with a 9-9-1 record. Since losing to CBJ on November 17, the Canadiens have defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 5-4 in a shootout but lost their last game 7-2 to the Buffalo Sabres on November 22.

Montreal is averaging 3.00 goals per game on 30.8 shots. The Canadiens are getting outscored consistently (like in a 6-4 loss to CBJ), averaging 3.68 goals against per game on 30.8 shots. Nick Suzuki leads the Canadiens with twenty-three points (eleven goals, twelve assists). 

The Canadiens' goaltending rotation has been very consistent this season. As such, we expect Sam Montemneault to get the start against CBJ over Jake Allen. Montembeault has a 3-2-1 record, a 2.83 goals-against average, and a .915 save percentage.

Odds And Picks

We've got the Blue Jackets listed as the moneyline favorite at (-118) odds. Montreal is listed at (-103). 

Using a total goals line of 6.5, we've got the over listed at (-127) and the under at (+105). 

We expect another high-scoring game between the Canadiens and Blue Jackets, so we'll take the over. As for who will win: we're taking CBJ on the moneyline to win the game outright. One-sided loss to Detroit aside, CBj has been pretty good at winning and hitting the over recently.

Take CBJ on the moneyline and the over.

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