Rangers vs. Blue Jackets Odds
| Rangers Odds | -180 |
| Blue Jackets Odds | +150 |
| Over / Under | 6.5 -105o / -115u |
Here's everything you need to know about the New York Rangers vs. Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday, February 25 – our expert NHL prediction and pick.
The Rangers have won 10 straight games and are having a vastly superior season to Columbus. The only problem is New York is set to play on the road for the second straight day and third time in four days. We'll explore how big of a factor that might be as we preview the upcoming contest and offer a Rangers vs. Blue Jackets prediction and pick.
New York Rangers
New York was already having a great campaign before its latest hot streak, and the Rangers are now 39-16-3, putting them in contention for the Presidents' Trophy. By contrast, the 18-28-10 Blue Jackets rank 29th in the league, so from that perspective, this game couldn't be much more lopsided.
At least the Blue Jackets will likely be spared Rangers starting goaltender Igor Shesterkin, who is red hot with a 6-0-0 record, 1.84 GAA and .951 save percentage over his last six games. Shesterkin started Thursday and Saturday, so the Rangers will almost certainly give him a breather. However, while facing Shesterkin would have been the tougher option for the Blue Jackets, getting Jonathan Quick instead isn't exactly a vacation. The 38-year-old netminder has a 13-4-2 record, 2.36 GAA and .917 save percentage across 20 contests.
Columbus will also still have to contend with the Rangers' offense, which is tied for ninth at 3.34 goals per game. Former Blue Jackets forward Artemi Panarin is having the best campaign of his career with 32 goals and 78 points in 58 contests, and he's backed up by Vincent Trocheck, Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad, who have each crossed the 50-point milestone.
Playing on the second half of a back-to-back won't necessarily slow the Rangers down either. They're actually 9-0-0 while averaging a stunning 4.67 goals per contest when playing on no days of rest. The Rangers are also dominant on the road with a 19-9-3 record, so the location probably won't help the Blue Jackets either.
Columbus Blue Jackets
It is hard to find a silver lining for Columbus. Johnny Gaudreau is leading the team with eight goals and 40 points in 56 contests, but those numbers wouldn't even be good enough for the Rangers' top five in scoring. It doesn't get any better for the Blue Jackets when you judge them as a team; they rank 20th offensively with 2.93 goals per game.
The defensive situation is even worse. The Blue Jackets rank 31st with 3.7 goals allowed per contest. Elvis Merzļikins, who is projected to start in goal, has a 10-12-7 record, 3.33 GAA and .900 save percentage in 32 outings. To be fair to him, Columbus' xGA/60 is 3.45, 30th in the league, which suggests at least part of the problem is the overall defense rather than the goaltending itself, but that's of little consolation when the result is this bad. While we're at it, the Blue Jackets' xGF/60 is 2.85, so the offense doesn't appear to have suffered from any blatantly obvious bad puck luck.
Even if you start picking them apart in terms of special teams, it doesn't get any better. The Blue Jackets are tied for 28th on the power play (14.3%) and tied for 26th on the penalty kill (76.4%). They also aren't on any particular run, having won a modest three of their last seven, nor do they have any especially hot players.
They are what they are — namely a young team going through growing pains.
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Rangers vs. Blue Jackets
Betting Pick & Prediction
Whenever there's a significant discrepancy between two teams, it's tempting to look for ways to justify chasing the big potential payday that could come with taking the underdog, but in this case, I just don't see the Blue Jackets' path to victory. Of course, it could still happen, but given the gap between these two teams and the Rangers' established ability to thrive on no rest, the chances of a Columbus victory seem low.
For that reason, I recommend taking the Rangers on the puck line, where the spread is 1.5 goals in Columbus' favor. If you're looking for an alternative bet, consider that Panarin tends to excel against Columbus (10 goals and 23 points in 16 career games), so he would be an interesting choice as an anytime goal scorer.
Pick: Rangers Puck Line (+128 at FanDuel; Play down to +115)
