Ride Bruins to Beat Blue Jackets on Tuesday

What: Boston Bruins vs Columbus Blue Jackets
When: January 2nd, 2024
Where: Nationwide Arena

The Boston Bruins will be looking to extend their three-game win streak on Tuesday as they hit the road to visit the lowly Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena. The puck is scheduled to drop at 7 PM EST. Boston is currently one of the best teams in the league and just beat the Detroit Red Wings 5-3 on New Year's Eve. Columbus meanwhile lost last time out on Saturday to the Buffalo Sabres in overtime by a score of 3-2. Below, find the Bruins vs Blue Jackets picks.

Before we get into the odds and preview, make sure to check out our online sportsbook reviews, and the top NHL betting sites.

Bruins vs Blue Jackets Odds

Team
Boston Bruins	-220	-235	-220
Columbus Blue Jackets	+195	+195	+180

By no surprise, the Bruins are a big favorite here with -220 odds for an implied win probability of 68.75%. The Blue Jackets come back at +195 and have a 33.90% chance of taking this one at home. When it comes to recent meetings, Boston has won seven of the last eight against Columbus.

Bruins Looking Great

Many thought Boston would take a step back in 2023-24 after their embarrassing first-round exit in the playoffs last season. However, the Bruins are terrific and look like a Stanley Cup contender. Boston is first in the Atlantic Division at the moment with a 22-7-6 record, sitting four points ahead of the second-place Florida Panthers. Jim Montgomery's squad is a force offensively, with one player in particular doing most of the damage. David Pastrnak is lighting up the stat sheet, scoring 22 goals and tallying 28 assists in 35 games. Pastrnak is proving to be worth every penny of his extension last season. Brad Marchand (13 goals, 20 assists) and Charlie Coyle (13 goals, 13 assists) round of the big three for the Bruins. Charlie McAvoy also has 20 assists, which is rather impressive for a defenceman.

The Bruins were in the midst of a small losing skid before scratching off three consecutive victories, beating the Buffalo Sabres, the New Jersey Devils, and the Red Wings. Trent Frederic was the star of the show here with two goals and one assist in this one. Jake DeBrusk, Coyle, and Pavel Zacha all scored as well. In net, Jeremy Swayman made 27 saves on 30 shots. Boston actually had to play catch-up here after going down in the second period, but in the third, they came out with serious fire and ultimately scored three.

Boston is an impressive 4-1 in their last five games against Eastern Conference opponents and owns an 18-11-5 record as a moneyline favorite. They also own an 11-5-3 record on the road, which is certainly respectable. When it comes to injuries, the Bruins are relatively healthy. Milan Lucic and Derek Forbort are the only ones out right now.

Columbus Poor Again

The Blue Jackets continue to be one of the worst teams in the NHL with no sense of things turning around anytime soon. Columbus is rock bottom in the Metropolitan Division with a 12-18-8 record, registering a mere 32 points in 38 games. Scoring-wise, the Blue Jackets aren't awful. They're 16th in the league in goals but defensively, Columbus is a nightmare. This group is allowing 3.66 goals per contest, which ranks 30th. To make matters worse, they're conceding one of the highest numbers of shots on target per game, too.

Columbus does have a few double-digit scorers in Kirill Marchenko, Adam Fantilli, and Boone Jenner, among others. Unfortunately, they're just not getting enough production out of Johnny Gaudreau, who is stuck on seven goals. But, he does have 18 assists as well. Coming into this matchup, the Blue Jackets have lost four of their last five games. The only win in there was impressive though, beating the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-5 in overtime Last Friday. This loss over the weekend to the Sabres was definitely a heartbreaker, with Jeff Skinner stunning Columbus in OT. Fantilli and Damon Severson found the back of the net in the defeat.

The Jackets are 11-23-7 as a moneyline underdog this season and have only gone 3-8 in their last 11 against an Eastern Conference team. Considering how good Boston is and their record versus them, this will be a very tough one for Columbus.