St. Louis Blues vs Columbus Blue Jackets Prediction, 1/4/2025 NHL Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: St. Louis Blues vs Columbus Blue Jackets

Date: Saturday, January 4, 2025

Location: Nationwide Arena in Columbus, OH

TV: NBC4 WCMH-TV

Odds/Point Spread: Blues (-196) Blue Jackets (+162)

The Columbus Blue Jackets (16-17-6) will compete against the St. Louis Blues (18-17-4) at Nationwide Arena on Saturday. The odds on this game have St. Louis at -196 while Columbus is sitting at +162. The total has been set at 6.

The St. Louis Blues were on the right side of the scoreboard with a 6-2 victory over the Blackhawks their last time out. St. Louis compiled 15 penalty mins in this matchup. They also had 3 power play opportunities and were able to score 2 goals. The Blues had a good offensive outing and it showed in this win. For the game, they were able to notch a goal on 6 out of the 28 shots they tried.

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With regard to scoring goals, the St. Louis Blues have tallied 105 goals (24th in hockey) on the season and have conceded 117. For the season, they have recorded 40 points and their points percentage comes in at .513. St. Louis has 90 power play chances and they have tallied 15 goals during those advantages, giving them a percentage of 16.67%. At even strength, the Blues let the opposition score 90 goals while having 90 on offense. St. Louis has attempted 1,034 shots and holds a shot percentage of 10.2%. The Blues so far have had 1,107 shots attempted against them and have a save percentage of .894. St. Louis Blues opponents have amassed 102 power play opportunities (25th in the NHL) and have racked up 27 goals in those attempts.

The player protecting the goal in this game is Joel Hofer. Throughout his time in hockey, Hofer has tallied 26 quality starts and his quality starts percentage is .553. His save percentage sits at .909 in his 2,093 mins between the pipes. Hofer has seen 1,406 shots taken against him and has recorded 1,278 saves. The opposition has scored 128 goals against Hofer in his professional hockey career and his goals against average per contest is 3.67. He has amassed an overall mark of 27-17-3 and he has gotten the start in 47 games. Hofer has been in net for 51 games throughout his professional hockey career.

In their last game, Columbus faced off against the Red Wings in an outing where the Blue Jackets ended up taking the loss by a score of 5-4. They had 2 power play opportunities in this contest and recorded 1 out of those opportunities. The Blue Jackets notched 4 goals of the 25 shots on goal they were seeking.

The Blue Jackets have accumulated 106 goals at even strength and 23 goals (15th in the NHL) while on the power play. Columbus has attempted 1,168 shots (5th in the NHL) and has accumulated a shooting percentage of 11.04%, while allowing their opponents 1,133 shots. During this campaign, the Columbus Blue Jackets have earned 129 goals, 38 points, and a points percentage of .487. They have permitted 141 goals to be scored by of a combination of 111 goals at even strength and 30 goals while they had less men on the ice. They have a tally of 105 opportunities on the power play and they have accumulated a power play rate of 21.90%. They have recorded a penalty kill rate of 73.91% on their opponents 115 tries on the power play, and their save percentage comes in at 87.6%.

On the other side of the ice you are likely to see Elvis Merzlikins in net. He has recorded 5,888 stops out of the 6,525 shots attempted, giving him a save % of .902. Merzlikins is sitting with a career mark of 80-89-33 and has participated in 216 games. He has made the start in 202 games and his ice time sits at 10,513 mins. Merzlikins' rate of quality starts sits at 48.0% and he has 97 quality starts in his NHL career. The opposition is averaging 3.64 goals per contest and he has allowed 637 goals altogether.

Who will win tonight's NHL game against the spread or moneyline?

Josh's Pick: Take Columbus (+162)

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