Columbus Blue Jackets vs Carolina Hurricanes Prediction: Best Bet for Thursday

Carolina owns the widest gap on the Thursday slate, outscoring opponents by 1.43 goals per game, and Columbus arrives at 1-2-0 on the road with a power play converting 11.1 percent. The Blue Jackets have made a habit of one-goal games, and Thursday asks whether habit survives the league's most complete team.

The Matchup

Carolina is 10-2-2, scores 3.79 goals per game and allows 2.36, a +1.43 differential per game that dwarfs everything else on the Thursday slate. Sebastian Aho drives it with 8 goals, 11 assists and 19 points, and Andrei Svechnikov adds 13 points, so the Hurricanes score from their top line and keep scoring when it changes. Carolina has done most of its damage on the road at 7-1-1, and it is 3-1-1 at Lenovo Center.

Columbus is 5-5-0 and plays a much smaller game. The Blue Jackets score 2.50 goals per game and allow 3.30, a -0.80 differential, and Kent Johnson leads them with 10 points and a team-high 6 goals while Zach Werenski has 8 assists.

That is a thin scoring base to bring against Carolina, and the absences do not help either side much: Taylor Hall is out for Carolina with an undisclosed injury and Jordan Staal is on injured reserve with a calf injury, while Columbus reports a clean sheet. A healthy underdog still has to score, and Columbus has reached four goals rarely this season.

Key Factors

Goaltending is where a close game usually survives, and here it points the other way. Pyotr Kochetkov is 8-0-0 for Carolina at a 1.62 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage. Columbus splits its crease between Jet Greaves at 3.34 and .883 and Cam Talbot at 2.83 and .894. A two-goal margin is a big ask against most teams; against a goaltender playing like Kochetkov, the favorite's margin is the natural outcome when the favorite also owns the puck.

Special teams deepen the problem for Columbus. The Blue Jackets convert 11.1 percent of their power plays, and Carolina kills 83.3 percent, so the shortcut goal is mostly closed. Carolina converts 23.5 percent against a Columbus kill of 72.7 percent, which is where a 2-1 game becomes 3-1.

The honest counter is Columbus's recent habit of tight finishes, with four of its last five decided by one goal, three of them Columbus wins. Habits like that break against teams that never stop coming, and Carolina at home is exactly that team.

Every pick is published with its line before the game. Odds via consensus sportsbooks at time of writing and move constantly. Must be 21+. If gambling is a problem, call or text 1-800-GAMBLER.