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NHL Betting – Battle of the Really Bad

Bookmark and Share by Dave D

There are “haves” and “have nots” in this world and in the NHL, two teams that represent the “have nots” are the Edmonton Oilers and the Columbus Blue Jackets. These two teams have combined for a total of 48 wins – just three more than the Washington Capitals have themselves.

Edmonton Oilers (21-40-7) @ Columbus Blue Jackets (27-31-11)

7:00 PM ET, Monday, March 15, 2010
Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio
On: XM Satellite Radio Channel 205

  • The Columbus Blue Jackets rank 25th on offense, and average 2.6 goals per game. The Blue Jackets are 19.0% on the power play and have 50 power play goals.
  • The Edmonton Oilers rank 29th on offense, and average 2.4 goals per game. The Oilers are 18.1% on the power play and have 45 power play goals.
  • The Blue Jackets average 2.5 goals per game at home, and give up 2.6 goals against on defense.
  • The Oilers average 2.2 goals per game on the road, and give up 3.5 goals against on defense.

Edmonton Oilers:

The Edmonton Oilers posess the second worst offense in the NHL and the worst defense in the league – not exactly a recipe for success is it? To understand why the Oilers are struggling so mightily, take a look at the players that the Oilers have on their injury list.

Ales Hemsky, Nikolai Khabibulin, Sheldon Souray, Ladislav Smid and Ryan Stone are all gone for the season while Patrick O’Sullivan and Fernando Pisani have been dealing with a variety of ailments as well. Edmonton was a mediocre club with all of these players in the lineup and without them are just plain bad.

Edmonton is 2-4-1 since the Olympic break and are coming off a loss to an equally bad team, the Toronto Maple Leafs. Edmonton is 15-44 in their last 59 games and have only won 16 of their last 52 road games.

This is an undermanned under under talented squad that might surprise on the odd night, but are very difficult to lay your money down on.

Columbus Blue Jackets:

The Columbus Blue Jackets sit in second last place in the Western Conference and have gone 2-3-1 since the Olympic break. The Jackets were able to make a bit of noise before the break but have since fallen back to earth.  Although they are 6-2 in their last 8 home games, the Jackets are 2-6 in their last 8 overall.

As bad as things have been for Columbus, things could get a whole lot worse. The first and third leading scorers are questionable for Monday’s game against the Oilers.

Rick Nash is battling stomach flu while Kristian Huselius has a troublesome groin injury. Goaltender Steve Mason has lost five straight decisions but still figures to get the start in goal.

Not much is going right for either team in this game but one team has a slight edge. Columbus has a decent 16-11-7 record at home while the Oilers have only 8 road wins on the season. Despite Edmonton’s 21-9-3 record against Columbus in their last 33 meetings, they will lose their 41st game of their 2009-2010 campaign.

Hockey Winning Pick: Columbus Blue Jackets > > JOIN to Bet!