Columbus Blue Jackets vs. Carolina Hurricanes Prediction & Game Preview - 2/25/2022

Time: 7 p.m. ET

Venue: PNC Arena, Raleigh, NC

Where to watch: BSSO, BSOH, SN

DraftKings: Hurricanes -330, Blue Jackets +260

BetMGM: Hurricanes -300, Blue Jackets +240

Caesars: Hurricanes -323, Blue Jackets +250

Blue Jackets: 27-23-1

Hurricanes: 35-11-4

I'm almost going to guarantee everyone reading this right now that you did not have the Columbus Blue Jackets on a four-game winning streak coming out of the All-Star break.

Now don't get me wrong. You are not going to find a bigger fan of the Blue Jackets than me. You are not going to find a more loud supporter for Columbus than myself, and even when they traded Pierre-Luc DuBois last season, it had to be for the right reasons because we knew Patrik Laine was going to be a good addition for this team.

But if there was ever a time to get on the CBJ train, it might be right now. Columbus’ four-game winning streak is on another level right now. Columbus is coming off a 6-3 win against the Florida Panthers Thursday, and what was arguably their biggest win of the season. Laine scored, but more importantly, the night belonged to J-F Berube and a 39-save performance.

There is nothing more fantastic in the world of hockey then when somebody comes out of nowhere, a name that you haven't heard in a while and he comes out and puts on a tremendous performance, showing the world that he is still relevant.

That is what Berube right now. the last time I had heard of his name, he was being selected by the Vegas Golden Knights in the expansion draft. Not since then has he got a fair shot in the NHL. No one had any idea what he would be able to do if Vegas had kept him, putting him in a tandem with Marc-Andre Fleury. How funny would that have been?

but with Columbus having both of their goalies on the injured list, they have had to go deep into the resource pool. And that’s where Berube has fit in the mold. He likely will not get the start on Friday on the second game of a back-to-back, but the Blue Jackets have to feel really good after defeating the best team in the league rather convincingly.

When it comes to the Carolina Hurricanes, I'm not sure if we're putting them in the upper echelon as the best team in hockey, but they are certainly making their way up to it the more they keep winning these games.

Carolina also comes in on a winning streak of its own, winning three straight with winds over the Nashville Predators, Pittsburgh Penguins, and the Philadelphia Flyers. This would be Carolina's first game in three days, after defeating the Flyers by one goal on February 21st.

not that anybody should be getting an award for defeating the Flyers, who have been God awful For the longest time now, but Carolina winning it overtime was well worth that kind of victory. Brett Pesce scored the winning goal less than a minute to go in overtime off the great assist from Vincent Trocheck to put Carolina at 74 points for the season.

We've talked many times before when it comes to the Hurricanes that the only thing preventing them from being in the Stanley Cup contention is their goaltending. And Carolina may have the most formidable duo in the league with Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta.

So long as Andersen it's putting up Vezina-like numbers, The Hurricanes are going to be a formidable opponent for the rest of the season. Even in a year where Carolina is Knicks with some of the top teams in the league, teams like the New York Rangers come Tampa Bay Lightning, and the Florida Panthers, Carolina is still a young team that has talent that's ready to make that next step becoming great.

But even with Columbus on the second night of a back-to-back, there is no doubt that Carolina is going to have its hands full with this red hot Blue Jackets team. Forward-wise, both teams are playing about as even as you can expect. But I fully expect the goaltending to be the difference of this matchup.

Columbus has won its last six games against Eastern Conference teams while they over has gone four straight with Columbus as a road underdog. The Blue Jackets are going to score a lot of goals, the Hurricanes are going to score a lot of goals but as mentioned before, goaltending is going to be the difference here. If it were anyone else in goal for Columbus I would feel much better about the situation. But with Carolina likely going with Andersen on three days rest, there should be no reason why Carolina loses this game. The schedule is about to get really crazy for every single team come March, and this is when we usually see the best teams start to make a run. Hurricanes win 4-2

The Blue Jackets are 35-58 against division opponents the past three seasons.

The Hurricanes are 62-39 after a division game the past three seasons.

The Hurricanes are 17-4 this season after scoring three goals or more in two straight games.

Blue Jackets:

Patrik Laine -- Boone Jenner -- Oliver Bjorkstrand

Jakub Voracek -- Cole Sillinger -- Yegor Chinakhov

Gustav Nyquist -- Sean Kuraly -- Max Domi

Brendan Gaunce -- Jack Roslovic -- Justin Danforth

Gabriel Carlsson -- Andrew Peeke

Vladislav Gavrikov -- Adam Boqvist

Gavin Bayreuther -- Dean Kukan

Jet Greaves

Hurricanes:

Andrei Svechnikov -- Sebastian Aho -- Teuvo Teravainen

Steven Lorentz -- Vincent Trocheck -- Martin Necas

Nino Niederreiter -- Jordan Staal -- Jesper Fast

Jordan Martinook -- Jesperi Kotkaniemi -- Seth Jarvis

Jaccob Slavin -- Tony DeAngelo

Brady Skjei -- Brett Pesce

Ian Cole -- Ethan Bear

Frederik Andersen

Points: Boone Jenner -- 41

Goals: Boone Jenner -- 22

Assists: Jakub Voracek -- 35

Goalie: Elvis Merzlikins -- 18-13-2, 3.42 GAA, .903 SV%

Points: Sebastian Aho -- 53

Goals: Sebastian Aho -- 22

Assists: Sebastian Aho -- 311

Goalie: Frederik Andersen -- 27-7-2, 2.12 GAA, .927 SV%