Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Columbus Blue Jackets: Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 10/22/2022

Time: 7 p.m. ET

Venue: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, OH

Where to watch: Bally Sports Ohio, AT&T SportsNet-Pittsburgh

DraftKings: Penguins -175, Blue Jackets +150

FanDuel: Penguins -194, Blue Jackets +160

BetMGM: Penguins -182, Blue Jackets +150

Caesars: Penguins -178, Blue Jackets +150

Penguins: 3-0-1

Blue Jackets: 2-3-0

Penguins: won 6-1 vs. Kings

Blue Jackets: won 5-3 vs. Predators

Get on board of the Columbus Blue Jackets’ hype train. I’m not one to tell people to do this, but this team is so fun. It has been for a few years in willing to go to the youth movement. Add Johnny Gaudreau to the mix and things are even more fun. But the Blue Jackets are about to go through their toughest test of the year, minus the Tampa Bay Lightning, in taking a two-game winning streak against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday at Nationwide Arena.

I’m not sure what it is, but the Blue Jackets are just a lot of fun. After losing their first three by a combined 14-5, Columbus has bounced back with a 4-3 overtime win against the Vancouver Chokes, I mean Canucks, and a 5-3 home win over the Nashville Predators on Thursday. Gaudreau has settled in very nicely with four goals in five games and his six points already lead his new team. But while Gaudreau had two goals in the win over Nashville, it was Nick Blankenburg scoring the go-ahead goal with 1:23 remaining to complete the two-goal rally and preserve the win. The Blue Jackets scored four goals in the third, with Gaudreau potting both of his 38 seconds in, and the empty-net to seal it.

“Scorings is infectious and so is not scoring,” Blue Jackets coach Brad Larsen said. “You hope these last two games you can take a breath and you start seeing guys are hanging onto the pucks and making plays, not throwing it away under pressure. You start to notice those things, and you find a rhythm to your game.”

Larsen has these guys playing with the right mindset. They may not be ready to taste the playoffs yet, but this young group has so much potential at the right time and it absolutely helps to have a superstar manning the helm.

“We were pushing the whole second and third periods,” Gaudreau said. “We had a lot of opportunities to score. We kept with it, kept sticking with it and got rewarded in the third.”

But this isn’t going to be a walk in the park for Columbus, with Pittsburgh coming in with points in all four games to start. Not only that, but in their three wins, the Penguins have been scoring at an absurd rate by an 18-5 clip. They’ve scored six goals in all three wins, and did so on Thursday in a 6-1 win at home over the Los Angeles Kings. That was a great rebound effort after losing 3-2 in overtime to the Montreal Canadiens three days prior.

Jeff Petry had his coming-out game with the Penguins with a goal and two assists, and Tristan Jarry did Tristan Jarry things with 39 saves as the Penguins led 6-0 and were minutes away from getting Jarry one hell of a shutout, but it was not meant to be with Carl Grundstrom scoring with 2:28 left.

“Certainly our guys are finishing, they’re creating opportunities,” said Penguins coach Mike Sullivan after winning his 300th victory with the Penguins, the first coach in franchise history to reach that mark.

This game against the Blue Jackets is going to be the start of a ridiculous run of 13 of the next 17 on the road. Get comfy, Pittsburgh. This is going to be a fun test.

I really want to see Columbus get a statement win and keep this train rolling, and I think the Penguins are due for an early letdown on this extensive road trip. I would put a few dollars on Columbus at +160 if you can get that price. Blue Jackets win 4-3

Penguins are 21-12 following a non-conference game the last three years.

Penguins are 46-31 following a home game the last three years.

Blue Jackets are 33-48 off an over the last three years.

Blue Jackets are 12-20 off a home win the last three years.

Penguins:

Jake Guentzel -- Sidney Crosby -- Rickard Rakell

Jason Zucker -- Evgeni Malkin -- Bryan Rust

Danton Heinen -- Jeff Carter -- Kasperi Kapanen

Brock McGinn -- Ryan Poehling -- Josh Archibald

Brian Dumoulin -- Kris Letang

Marcus Pettersson -- Jeff Petry

Pierre-Olivier Joseph -- Jan Rutta

Tristan Jarry

Blue Jackets:

Gustav Nyquist -- Boone Jenner -- Johnny Gaudreau

Kent Johnson -- Cole Sillinger -- Jakub Voracek

Justin Danforth -- Jack Roslovic -- Yegor Chinakhov

Eric Robinson -- Sean Kuraly -- Mathieu Olivier

Zach Werenski -- Nick Blankenburg

Vladislav Gavrikov -- Andrew Peeke

Jake Bean -- Erik Gudbranson

Elvis Merzlikins

Points: Sidney Crosby -- 6

Goals: Evgeni Malkin -- 3

Assists: Sidney Crosby -- 4

Goalie: Tristan Jarry -- 3-0-0, 1.34 GAA, .952 SV%

Points: Johnny Gaudreau -- 6

Goals: Johnny Gaudreau -- 4

Assists: Yegor Chinakhov -- 4

Goalie: Elvis Merzlikins -- 2-1-0, 2.62 GAA, .872 SV%