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Game 2: Columbus Blue Jackets vs. Pittsburgh Penguins NHL Gambling Prediction & Lines

Blue Jackets vs Penguins Playoff Betting?

The Columbus Blue Jackets will look to defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins for the first time in seven games Saturday night when Game 2 of their first round playoff series will be contested. The Jackets played a good game Wednesday night outshooting the Pens 34-32 and outhitting them 47-28 while limiting Sidney Crosby to one secondary assist along the way.

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Columbus (43-33-5-2) at Pittsburgh (52-24-4-3)
When: 7:00 PM ET, Saturday, April 19, 2014
Where: Consol Energy Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Broadcast: NBCSN, CBC, RDS, ROOT, FS-O
Penguins Lead Series 1-0
Jackets vs. Pens Betting Lines
Columbus Blue Jackets +1½ -175 +169 Ov 5½ +113
Pittsburgh Penguins -1½ +155 -186 Un 5½ -124
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That’s the good news. The bad news is the Penguins may have gotten their bad game of the series out of the way and still won despite not getting a goal from Sid, Evgeni Malkin, Chris Kunitz or James Neal. The Blue Jackets have lost all five postseason games in franchise history.

The Columbus Blue Jackets will get a boost Saturday night in the form of some returning forwards to the lineup. RJ Umberger and Nick Foligno are slated to come back to the lineup Saturday after missing Game 1 with injury. The Jackets could use the re-enforcements after letting a two goal lead slip away in Game 1.

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Brandon Dubinksy played about as well as anyone could have imagined in a shadow-roll of Sidney Crosby. I give Dubinsky Round 1 in the battle but also think it is a longshot that he repeats his stellar performance Saturday. Crosby is the best in the world for a reason – it is nearly impossible to pin him down.
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Scoring three goals against Pittsburgh has to be seen as a positive but the play of reigning Vezina Trophy winning goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky left something to be desired. He allowed four goals on 32 shots and has ugly 4.04 goals-against average in his four postseason appearances.

Bobrovsky is going to have to steal a game or two in the series for the Blue Jackets to have a chance – he has to be much better on Saturday night.

The Pittsburgh Penguins won the opener despite playing just an average game. Sidney Crosby had a rare poor night and Marc-Andre Fleury shook off some early jitters and was good in the last half of the game.

Fleury was the single biggest question mark for Pittsburgh heading into Game 1 – he passed the first test – it will be interesting to see if he passes the second!

Evgeni Malkin returned from injury and looked good offensively for the Penguins and had two assists. Crosby, Malkin, Neal and Kunitz will break out sooner than later – not a good omen for the Jackets.

Dave’s FREE NHL Betting Prediction

A few trends to consider:
• Under is 8-1 in CLB last 9 road games.
• Under is 7-1 in CLB last 8 vs. Metropolitan.
• Under is 12-4 in CLB last 16 overall.
• PIT are 49-18 in their last 67 home games.
• PIT are 15-6 in their last 21 vs. Metropolitan.
• Under is 7-3 in PIT last 10 games following a win.
• Over is 13-5 in the last 18 meetings.
• Over is 7-3 in the last 10 meetings in Pittsburgh.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are Columbus’s kryptonite – the Pens have won six straight in the series.

While I think the Pens take Game 2, my play is the Over in this game – Over is 7-3 in the last 10 meetings in Pittsburgh. I still don’t fully trust Marc-Andre Fleury and Sergei Bobrovsky’s playoff numbers are sketchy to say the least.

Pittsburgh will score Saturday and the return of RJ Umberger and Nick Foligno only strengthens the Columbus offense as well.

Pick: The Over – 5 1/2 goals

By DaveB

Dave B has been a Fantasy Football writer for us for 10 years. A couch potato wannabe, Dave’s insights have been read by 10’s of people for years. He hope’s for world peace + global relaxation. Enjoy and remember only smoke things that are completely natural.