Nashville Predators vs. Columbus Blue Jackets October 20 Betting Preview

The Columbus Blue Jackets welcome the Nashville Predators to Nationwide Arena on Thursday night after defeating the Vancouver Canucks 4-3 in overtime.

Canucks collapse aside, the Blue Jackets won and made our moneyline pick payout! Nashville is the first of three games in four nights for the Blue Jackets, as it's likely Columbus' best chance to win one of the three games.

We'll review the Blue Jackets and Predators seasons so far to find the best pick for your betting ticket. Puck drop for the Predators vs. Blue Jackets is scheduled for 7:00 p.m on Thursday, October 20th, from Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

Columbus Blue Jackets Betting Preview

While it's not all good news for the Columbus Blue Jackets, they got their first win of the year. The Blue Jackets have a 1-3-0 record. Columbus has averaged 2.24 goals per game across four games and remains the only team to have not scored a power-play goal this season.

Johnny Gaudreau leads the Blue Jackets with four points (two goals, two assists), while Boone Jenner is starting to get going having three points (0 goals, three assists) in 2022-23. As mentioned, the Blue Jackets' power play has not scored yet, while the penalty kill is operating at 80 percent.

Elvis Merzlikins and Daniel Tarasov split the season's first four games. With Nashville being the first of three games in four nights, we will see both goalies over the next three games. How head coach Brad Larsen manages, his goalies will be important to making a final betting selection over the next few games.

So far in 2022-23, Merzlikins - our likely starter against the Predators - has a 1-1-0 record, with a 3.89 goals-against average and a .867 save percentage. Tarasov has an 0-2 record, with a 4.50 goals against average and a .890 save percentage.

 Patrik Laine is on the injured reserve for another few weeks, so we still expect Columbus to struggle to score, requiring more output from the Jackets' secondary scoring and team leader Johnny Gaudreau.

Nashville Predators Betting Preview

The Nashville Predators come to Ohio with a 2-2-1 record after opening the NHL regular season against the San Jose Sharks in Prague, Czech Republic.

Since returning from Europe, the Predators haven't been good, losing two games that weren't close to the Dallas Stars, and losing 4-3 in overtime to the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night.

Mikael Grandlund leads the Nashville Predators with five points (zero goals and five assists). Nino Niederreiter has four points (four goals, zero assists), while five Predators have three points a piece. The Predators' power play is operating at 4.8 percent, while their penalty kill has been much better, operating at 81.8 percent.

Juuse Saros has a record of 1-2-1, with a 3.00 goals-against average and a .897 save percentage. Predators backup Kevin Lankinen has a 1-0-0 record, posting a 2.00 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage.

Predators vs. Blue Jackets Odds

According to betJACK, the Blue Jackets are listed as the slight moneyline betting underdog at (+123). The Predators are the moneyline betting favorite at (-150).

The puck line spread is set to 1.5. We've got the Blue Jackets +1.5 listed as the betting favorite to cover the spread at (-200) odds, while the Predators -1.5 are the betting underdog at (+165) odds.

Our Prediction

The Blue Jackets will be riding a little higher, having earned their first win of the season in their last outing. Unfortunately, the Nashville Predators are the better team on paper and should prove to be a difficult challenge for the Blue Jackets.

Sorry Blue Jackets fans, we see another loss on the Blue Jackets record, regardless of whom the Predators have in the net.

If you want to win your bet, we'd lean toward picking the Predators to win on the moneyline at (-150) odds.