Senators a Favorite Friday vs Lowly Blue Jackets

What: Ottawa Senators vs Columbus Blue Jackets
When: Friday, December 1st
Where: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, OH

It's a quiet slate across the NHL with just two games on Friday, December 1st but one of them will feature the Ottawa Senators and the Columbus Blue Jackets. The puck is scheduled to drop at 7 PM EST at Nationwide Arena in Ohio. Ottawa hasn't played since Monday when they lost 5-0 to the Florida Panthers where both teams created absolute havoc, with numerous fights and 10 players ejected at once. Columbus meanwhile lost to the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday by a score of 4-2. It's been another miserable season for them. Below, find our Senators vs Blue Jackets picks.

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Senators vs Blue Jackets Odds

Team
Ottawa Senators	-146	-145	-145
Columbus Blue Jackets	+130	+135	+125

The Sens are the favorite with -146 moneyline odds on the road. However, Ottawa is only 2-8 in their last 10 games away from home. The Blue Jackets come back at +130 and have a 6-2 record in their last eight games against the Senators at home. A bit of reason for positivity. This is the first meeting of the season between the two teams.

Sens Need to Bounce Back

There's no other way to put it. The Senators are off to a brutal start. While an 8-9-0 record isn't awful at first glance, they're last in the Atlantic Division and six points off the Montreal Canadiens who are above Ottawa. Not much is going right at the moment and the team heads into Friday on a two-game losing skid, falling to the Islanders and most recently, the Panthers.

This was a matchup full of violence. Brothers Brady Tkachuk and Matthew Tkachuk had words at numerous points throughout the game and in the third period, a brouhaha broke out which ultimately resulted in 10 players being ejected. It was an ugly scene and at that point, the Sens were down 4-0. It was pretty clear Ottawa was overmatched, getting outshot 38-20 and honestly struggling to muster up many opportunities at all. They were also 0 for 6 on the power play.

While offense was non-existent vs Florida, that's actually been a strong suit this season. The Sens are scoring 3.47 goals per night, which ranks seventh in the NHL. Tkachuk has a team-best 10 goals, while Tim Stutzle leads the squad with 17 points. It's on the opposite end of the ice where Ottawa is running into problems, conceding 3.47 times per game while ranking 26th in penalty kill percentage and 32nd in penalty minutes. Having allowed five goals in back-to-back outings, the Sens need to be a lot better on Friday. For what it's worth, Ottawa has won three of the last four against Columbus.

Blue Jackets Are Poor

Is it a surprise that Columbus is poor? Not exactly. I mean, it's been quite a while since they were good. Despite luring in Johnny Gaudreau last season who decided to sign with the Blue Jackets instead of returning to Calgary, this organization is just not where it wants to be. Columbus is also last in their division with a 7-13-4 record and a -14 goal difference. To make matters worse, they're 3-6-1 in their previous 10 games.

The Blue Jackets did put up a respectable fight on Wednesday against the Habs, though. Both teams traded blows in the second and went into the third period in a 2-2 deadlock after Patrik Laine and Yegor Chinakhov both scored for the hosts. But, Montreal scored late in the third before adding an empty netter in the final minute of regulation. Columbus was outshot 31-28 in this one.

There's really no clear bright spot in the Blue Jackets' season. They rank towards the bottom of the league in goals scored and goals allowed. Gaudreau is having a horrible year to his standards, collecting a mere 11 points in 24 games. Their only double-digit scorer is Boone Jenner with 11. Except for him, there's little consistency. On a more positive note, Columbus is 5-7-1 at home compared to 2-6-3 on the road. We'll see if they can take advantage of a reeling Sens team.

Senators vs Blue Jackets Picks

The over has been hit in nine of the Blue Jackets' last 12 games and the last two meetings between these clubs went over 6.5 goals. I could see it happening again.

Senators vs Blue Jackets To hit the over in goals

Ov 6.5 (-133)

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