Golden Knights vs Blue Jackets

Vegas has been the steadier side by a wide margin, coming in at 15-6-9 with an 8-2-5 road mark and a +7 goal differential, while Columbus is just 13-12-6, 6-4-3 at home, and mired in a four-game losing streak in which they’ve bled nearly four goals against per night and were just lit up 6-3 by Ottawa after yanking Elvis Merzlikins early. With Adin Hill sidelined, Vegas will likely lean again on Carter Hart behind one of the league’s best shot-suppression groups, and even without injured pieces like Alex Pietrangelo and William Karlsson, the top of the lineup still features Eichel, Mark Stone and Tomas Hertl driving a power play north of 24 percent. Columbus, meanwhile, is missing heavy, defensive minutes from Erik Gudbranson and bottom-six muscle in Mathieu Olivier, and they’ve struggled to contain elite forwards; Eichel already torched this matchup with a multipoint night in last season’s 4-0 Vegas win in this building, where the Jackets generated chances but couldn’t solve the Golden Knights’ structure. At a relatively modest -145, Vegas offers a fair price on the clearly superior five-on-five and special-teams side against a fragile opponent, though road variance and injuries on the Vegas blue line keep this from being a slam-dunk, so I grade the Golden Knights moneyline as a B+—solid edge, but not an all-in position. Odds and availability are subject to change. This bet was made at 13/12/2025 09:46

Given how these teams are trending, the total of 6 sets up for a modest lean to the Over rather than a defensive grind like last year’s 4-0 Vegas shutout in Columbus, as the current versions of these rosters are playing a faster, looser style—Vegas averages just over 3.0 goals per game with a top-10 power play and one of the league’s lowest shots against, while Columbus scores about 2.8 but allows 3.4 and is giving up nearly four per night over its last 10. The Blue Jackets’ goaltending has been volatile, with recent blowups against Washington and Ottawa underscoring how thin the margin is in front of a blue line missing shot-blocking veteran Erik Gudbranson, and their penalty kill will be under heavy stress against a Vegas top unit centered around Eichel and Stone. On the other side, Columbus still has enough offensive pop with Adam Fantilli, Dmitri Voronkov and a healthy Boone Jenner to exploit a Golden Knights team that’s down workhorse starter Adin Hill and key defensive anchor Pietrangelo, especially if fatigue creeps in on the road. With Vegas capable of hanging four by itself and Columbus desperate to push pace at home to snap a losing streak, a 4-2 or 4-3 type score feels more likely than another defensive clinic, so Over 6 at -115 earns a B: reasonable likelihood of cashing with a small discount to the implied scoring potential, but not enough plus-money upside to rank as a top-tier edge. Odds and availability are subject to change. This bet was made at 13/12/2025 09:46

While I expect Vegas to find a way to take two points, the puckline math tilts slightly toward Columbus +1.5 given how many of the Golden Knights’ road games end up decided by a single goal—an 8-2-5 away record with multiple overtime and shootout results suggests a profile geared more toward grinding out tight finishes than routinely blowing teams out. The Jackets have quietly been competitive at home (6-4-3), and with Boone Jenner activated from injured reserve to center a matchup line in front of minute-eater Zach Werenski, they’re better equipped to at least keep Eichel’s line somewhat in check than they were when Vegas rolled to a 4-0 win here last March. Columbus still has defensive issues and is missing Gudbranson and Olivier, which hurts their ability to win net-front battles, but their offensive core—Fantilli, Voronkov, Kent Johnson—has enough speed and skill to trade chances and force Vegas’ injury-thinned blue line, missing Pietrangelo and relying more heavily on secondary pairings, into uncomfortable shifts. Laying -205 on a home dog puckline isn’t attractive from a raw value standpoint, but with Vegas more likely to eke out a one-goal decision than cruise to another multi-goal rout, Jackets +1.5 grades as a B-: a conservative, lower-upside way to fade the blowout narrative while still respecting Vegas as the more complete team. Odds and availability are subject to change. This bet was made at 13/12/2025 09:46