Columbus Blue Jackets vs Carolina Hurricanes: Game preview, predictions and odds | December 15, 2024

On Sunday, the Columbus Blue Jackets will play the second leg of a back-to-back against the Carolina Hurricanes, following a 4-3 OT defeat against the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday. After a 3-0 shutout loss to the Ottawa Senators on Friday, the Hurricanes are looking to get back in the win column in hopes of extending their record over their last five games to 3-2.

Let's take a look at some key details ahead of the game set for 5 pm ET at Lenovo Center:

Columbus Blue Jackets vs Carolina Hurricanes: Head-to-head & Key Stats

Today's game will be the second of four meetings between these two teams this season. The first time they played back in late November, Columbus picked up a 5-4 shootout win, giving them an early lead in the season series.

Carolina has a 33-19-0-9 record against Columbus all-time and is 17-8-0-5 in home games, as per Statmuse. The Hurricanes are the favorites to win this upcoming matchup too.

This season, Carolina has scored 104 goals and conceded 86 across 29 games, averaging 3.58 for and 2.96 against per game. Meanwhile, the Blue Jackets have scored 100 goals and conceded 107 across 30 games, averaging 3.33 for and 3.56 against per game. On paper, the Hurricanes look to have the advantage in this one.

Columbus Blue Jackets vs Carolina Hurricanes: Preview

Following the loss to the Senators, Carolina is 4-5-1 in their last 10, with a record of 18-10-1 this season. With the Washington Capitals and New Jersey Devils both battling it out for first place in the division, if Carolina is to catch either team, they'll have to string together wins, especially in divisional games.

On the flip side, the Blue Jackets haven't been able to find the consistency they'd hoped for this season. So far this year, the team has only had one win-streak span more than two games.

Much like Carolina, if they want to have any shred of hope for the postseason, the Blue Jackets will have to string together wins. Standing at 12-13-5 this would be a very good place to start.

Columbus Blue Jackets vs Carolina Hurricanes: Odds & Prediction

Heading into today's game, the Hurricanes are sitting as very comfortable betting favorites, given that they have been the better team this season.

On DraftKings, Carolina is a -325 favorite, while on the flip side, the Blue Jackets are +260 underdogs. Meanwhile, on FanDuel, the odds are even more lopsided in Carolina's favor, with the team sitting as a -335 favorite and the Blue Jackets sitting as a +265 underdog.

This means on FanDuel, it would take a $335 bet on the Carolina Hurricanes to win $100 while a $100 bet on the Columbus Blue Jackets as the underdogs would win $265.

Prediction: Carolina 3, Columbus 2