{"id":461097,"date":"2025-01-20T08:00:48","date_gmt":"2025-01-20T13:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=461097"},"modified":"2025-01-19T20:34:02","modified_gmt":"2025-01-20T01:34:02","slug":"nhl-predictions-jan-20-new-york-islanders-vs-columbus-blue-jackets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/01\/20\/nhl-predictions-jan-20-new-york-islanders-vs-columbus-blue-jackets\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Predictions: Jan 20 New York Islanders vs Columbus Blue Jackets"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome back to another edition\u00a0<\/span>of NHL Predictions<\/span><\/a>. Our writers here at\u00a0<\/span>Last Word on Hockey<\/span><\/em> look at the games each day and give an analysis. Our team breaks down the key matchups, storylines, and stats, then makes predictions based on how they might play out. The\u00a0<\/span>New York Islanders<\/span><\/a> will take on the\u00a0<\/span>Columbus Blue Jackets<\/span><\/a> for this edition. Don’t forget to check out all the action as\u00a0<\/span>our writers continue this series throughout the 2024-25 season<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

NHL Predictions<\/span><\/h2>\n

New York Islanders vs Columbus Blue Jackets<\/span><\/h3>\n

Time<\/span><\/strong>: 7:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)<\/span><\/p>\n

TV:<\/span><\/strong> MSGSN, FDSNOH<\/span><\/p>\n

This matchup will feature two Metropolitan Division rivals in opposite positions going head-to-head. The Islanders are sitting in last place of the division through 45 games with a record of 18-20-7. That record is good enough for 43 points. The Blue Jackets are fourth with a record of 22-17-7 through 46 games, good for 51 points. These teams are in the middle of a wild card chase. Columbus is in the second wild-card spot, and the Islanders are eight points behind. This is the second of four matchups between these two. The Blue Jackets took the first 2-0 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus. Tonight’s game will be on Long Island inside UBS Arena.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Islanders Story<\/span><\/h3>\n

The Islanders snapped a two-game losing streak their last time out. They did this with a strong performance against the <\/span>San Jose Sharks<\/span><\/a> in a 4-1 win. Coach <\/span>Patrick Roy<\/span><\/a> was forced to change the lines again due to Maxim Tsyplakov’s three-game suspension, which will be the second of the three. Those changes included moving the struggling <\/span>Anthony Duclair<\/span><\/a> from the third to the second line. While also putting <\/span>Brock Nelson<\/span><\/a> back on the second line and moving <\/span>Bo Horvat<\/span><\/a> up to the first. These changes saw them score four goals in the last game. Despite this, overall, it has been a struggle, and they still rank 27 in goals with 2.64 a game. However, one player who hasn’t struggled since returning is <\/span>Mathew Barzal<\/span><\/a>, who scored eight points over seven games in January.<\/span><\/p>\n

Defensively for the Islanders, they have been strong recently. They held the Sharks to one goal and just 19 shots on goal. They have held their opponents to two goals or less in four of their last five games. That has them ranked 17th in goals against with 3.02 per game. They hope to continue that strong play in the next game, and welcoming back <\/span>Alexander Romanov<\/span><\/a> should help. Backup goalie <\/span>Marcus H\u00f6gberg<\/span><\/a> won against the Sharks. He has been playing at a high level since January. In his last three games, he is 2-1 with a .955 save percentage and 1.01 goals against. Starter <\/span>Ilya Sorokin<\/span><\/a> is the confirmed goalie for this one. During the season, he is 13-14-4 with a .900 save percentage and 2.87 goals against.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Blue Jackets Story<\/span><\/h3>\n

The Blue Jackets come into this one after dropping their last game 1-0 in a shootout against the <\/span>New York Rangers<\/span><\/a>. This loss snapped what was a six-game winning streak for Columbus. Their recent winning ways can be attributed to their offense, which scored three or more goals in five of the six games on that winning streak. For the season, they rank seventh in goals with 3.30 per game. It was led by defenceman <\/span>Zach Werenski<\/span><\/a>, who scored 51 points in 46 games. He has had multiple-point efforts in five of their last 12 games. <\/span>Kirill Marchenko<\/span><\/a> is second in points with 49 in 46 games. He has been hot over the previous month, with eight goals and 22 points over his last 17 games. They can hurt you five-on-five on the man advantage with the 12th-ranked powerplay at 23.1%.<\/span><\/p>\n

Their weakness comes on defence and in their goaltending. They rank 27th in goals against with 3.35 per game. They have allowed 1034 shots on goal, the<\/span> 12th most this season. Of those shots, 99 have been high danger, the ninth most in the league. While they are good with the powerplay, killing them off has been a problem, with the 26th-ranked penalty kill at just 74.6%. The goalies haven’t been great, but the offence has helped. Starter <\/span>Elvis Merz\u013cikins<\/span><\/a>, over his last nine starts, is 7-1-1 but only with a .898 save percentage and 2.93 goals against. While backup <\/span>Daniil Tarasov<\/span><\/a> hasn’t been good, he is 4-6-2 with a .872 save percentage and 3.64 goals against.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prediction<\/span><\/h3>\n

Looking at this game, Columbus has a clear advantage offensively while holding slight edges on special teams. The Islanders have the advantage on defence, with their goaltending and playing on home ice. With both teams in the heat of a wild card race, expect this game to have a lot of energy. The Islanders, however, need this win more than Columbus. They should be the more desperate team, and we think that’ll lead to them winning this game.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prediction:\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>4-3 Islanders win<\/span><\/p>\n

Prop Bets<\/span><\/h3>\n

According to top betting sites, the Islanders are favorites in this game. We still like their money line at -176. The over\/under is at 5.5, and given the Blue Jackets’ <\/span>strong<\/span> offense and <\/span>their<\/span> weak defense, that number is too low. Take the over at -128. As far as any-time goal scorers, for the Islanders, take Bo Horvat at +210. He was promoted to the first line, and playing with Barzal again could lead to him scoring one here. For the Blue Jackets, take Kiril Marchenko at +210. He is the team’s leading goal scorer and could add to it in this contest.<\/span><\/p>\n

Main photo by: Samantha Madar-Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n

Please play responsibly. Check for your local rules and age restrictions. Some jurisdictions require ages 21+. Have a gambling\u00a0problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome back to another edition\u00a0of NHL Predictions. Our writers here at\u00a0Last Word on Hockey look at the games each day and give an analysis. Our team breaks down the key matchups, storylines, and stats, then makes predictions based on how they might play out. The\u00a0New York Islanders will take on the\u00a0Columbus Blue Jackets for this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5162,"featured_media":461136,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17,11,4547,4548,4524],"tags":[111,37,491,38],"class_list":["post-461097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-islanders","category-bluejackets","category-hockey","category-nhl","category-nhl-predictions","tag-columbus-blue-jackets","tag-hockey","tag-new-york-islanders","tag-nhl"],"modified_by":"Andrew Willis","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5162"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=461097"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461097\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":461137,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461097\/revisions\/461137"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/461136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=461097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=461097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=461097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}