Blue Jackets at Oilers
The Columbus Blue Jackets continue their four-game road trip when they take on the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday. Columbus has climbed into the playoff picture in the Western Conference thanks to an improbable 8-1-5 run that included a franchise-record 12-game point streak. That stretch ended when the Blue Jackets began their trek with a 5-2 loss at the Nashville Predators on Saturday, but they picked up another point with a shootout loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday.
Columbus trails eighth-place San Jose by three points and is two ahead of Edmonton, which ended a three-game winless streak with a 3-0 road triumph over the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday. The Oilers had earned at least one point in five straight contests before losing by an identical 3-0 score to the Blues at home on Saturday. They were edged in Nashville two days later before exacting revenge on St. Louis.
TV: 9:30 p.m. ET, FSN Ohio (Columbus), Rogers Sportsnet West (Edmonton)
ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (13-13-7): Sergei Bobrovsky has been one of the main reasons for Columbus' surge. The netminder has posted an 8-1-4 record and all three of his career shutouts over his last 13 games. Bobrovsky made 34 saves in the 1-0 shootout loss to the Canucks, earning the praise of his coach. "I wasn't expecting anything less than what we've seen over the last three weeks with Bob," Todd Richards said. "He's the reason why we got a point." Bobrovsky is second in the league with a .930 save percentage and fifth with a 2.06 goals-against average.
ABOUT THE OILERS (12-13-7): Taylor Hall recorded three points in Tuesday's win to take over the team lead in scoring. Hall (30 points) moved ahead of Sam Gagner (28), who has gone three straight games without a point. Gagner still tops the club with 12 goals. Ales Hemsky and Ryan Smyth are tied for seventh on the franchise list with 317 assists. Hemsky has notched just one assist in his last five games, while Smyth has picked up one in his last 12 contests. Edmonton has won four straight home meetings with Columbus and is 17-4-1 at Rexall Place in the all-time series.
OVERTIME
1. The Blue Jackets are last in the NHL with an average of 2.15 goals.
2. The home team has won nine of the last 11 games in the all-time series.
3. Bobrovsky has allowed fewer than two goals in nine of his last 12 contests.
PREDICTION: Oilers 3, Blue Jackets 1