Nashville Predators - Columbus Blue Jackets predictions and free betting tips [14/04/2024]

The Columbus Blue Jackets and Nashville Predators are set to play tomorrow morning as part of the NHL.

Columbus Blue Jackets

The Columbus Blue Jackets are concluding the season with a 26-42-12 record, amassing 64 points, and are experiencing significant difficulties having lost the last three games. They recently succumbed to the Florida Panthers with a scoreline of 0:4, extending their away losing streak to 10. Coach Pascal Vincent characterised the team as a tough one, capable of doing some damage in the playoffs. In the last 5 games, Zach Werenski scored 2 goals and made 3 assists, while Kirill Marchenko made his mark with 3 goals. In net this season, the team has had Jett Greaves who in 7 games has shown results of 2-5 with a goal against average (GAA) of 3.18 and a save percentage (SV%) of 91.6. His first possible match against Nashville could be coming up on Sunday, where he will have to assert his skills, not giving up easy goals.

The team scores an average of 2.80 goals per game and yields 3.61, with a power play efficiency of just 15.3%, and a penalty kill efficiency rate of 76.8%. The team's top players include Johnny Gaudreau with 59 points, including 48 assists, and Zach Werenski with 53 points. Both goalies, Elvis Merzlikins and Daniil Tarasov, are also competing for a starting spot, displaying an average reliability this season.

Nashville Predators 

The Nashville Predators finish the season with a 46-29-5 record and 97 points, maintaining a 3 point advantage over the Vegas Golden Knights in the battle for first place. The team rebounded from a series of 5 defeats out of 7 matches, scoring a victory against the Chicago Blackhawks with a score of 5:1. In that game, Filip Forsberg registered his 10th-career hat trick, scoring three goals and setting a Nashville record for the number of goals for the season with 46. Luke Evangelista added two assists, and Forsberg over the last 5 games netted 5 goals and made 3 assists. Ryan O'Riley during the same period scored 1 goal and made 5 assists.

Goalie Juuse Saros, who missed the last game, displays this season a 34-23-5 record with a GAA of 2.82 and an SV% of 90.7. In his matches against Columbus Blue Jackets, he has a record of 8-3-0 with a GAA of 2.19 and an SV% of 93.1. Nashville is also counting on Kevin Lankinen in net, who this season reached a record of 10-6 with a GAA of 2.93 and an SV% of 90.5. The forthcoming match will be the last home game for Nashville in the regular season before the team heads to Pittsburgh to finish their campaign. Considering the current form and the importance of the matches at the final stage of the season, the team is not intending to decelerate since keeping the momentum is crucial ahead of the playoffs.

Head-to-Head

In a string of recent head-to-head matches, Nashville showed superiority, winning 2:1 in March 2024 and with the same scoreline on January 18 and October 21, 2023. Whereas Columbus achieved victories of 5:3 on December 31, 2021, and in overtime 4:3 on December 1, 2021. In one of the games, Nashville won with a scoreline of 6:0.

Prediction for the match Columbus Blue Jackets - Nashville Predators

Columbus has had a poor season and is unlikely to be an obstacle for Nashville, for whom victory is extremely important in order to stay in the playoffs.