Betting HubSharp Action
Barstool BushChronicling the Barstool Universe

Florida Panthers at Columbus Blue Jackets

Tue Oct 136:15 PM ETESPN+Columbus, OH
By JR·2 min read
Panthers(2-1-2)
Blue Jackets(2-2-0)
Tuesday 10/136:15 PM

TLDR: Florida comes to Nationwide Arena without its captain and without Brad Marchand, and Columbus has a new winger who has been the best player on the ice most nights. The Panthers will have played in Buffalo the night before, so this one tests how much a thin lineup has left.

TUE 10/13, 6:15 PMESPN+
Panthers
(2-1-2)
LWLLW
Blue Jackets
(2-2-0)
LWLW

A Florida team missing Aleksander Barkov and Brad Marchand visits Columbus on the second night of a back-to-back, after a game in Buffalo. The Panthers have been winning low-scoring games and haven't scored much, while Columbus has new scoring from Matthew Knies and will be rested at home. The game probably comes down to whether Florida can keep the score tight enough to grind out another one.

Florida Panthers
  • Has won 1-0 and 2-1 grinders this month
  • Tkachuk still driving the attack without Barkov
  • Barkov and Marchand both out until late November
  • Second night of a back-to-back after Buffalo
  • Just 9 goals across the last 5 games
Columbus Blue Jackets
  • Knies producing right away since the Marchenko trade
  • Rested at home while Florida travels from Buffalo
  • Scoring spread across Coyle, Werenski and Knies
  • Blew a 2-0 lead, gave up 5 in St. Louis
  • Faded late on the back end of its own back-to-back

The Panthers' October has been one long road test with half the top of the lineup gone. Aleksander Barkov went down in the 4-3 loss in San Jose and is out 6-8 weeks with a lower-body injury, with non-surgical rehab pointing to a return around the end of November. Then Marchand, in only his second game of the season, got helped off the ice in the 2-1 win over the Kings and is out 6 weeks. That takes 2 of Florida's most important forwards out for basically all of the first quarter.

Florida has tried to win without them by keeping games small. The 5 most recent results were 1-0, 3-4, 2-3, 2-1 and 1-4, which is 9 goals in 5 games. It worked on the West Coast swing and fell apart at home against Minnesota, when Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy scored in the first 6:18 and Matthew Tkachuk's goal turned out to be the only one. Eetu Luostarinen is also listed day-to-day, and that matters a lot for a team already patching its middle six with spare parts.

There's also the schedule. Florida plays at Buffalo on October 12, the day before this one, so Columbus gets a club playing its second game in 2 nights. Columbus just saw how that goes from the other side. In St. Louis, on the back half of its own back-to-back, it led 2-0 in the 1st, ran out of legs and gave up 5 straight in a 5-3 loss. Whatever happens in Buffalo, and whoever Florida has to use in net there, will shape the lineup Paul Maurice can put out in Columbus.

The Blue Jackets' story so far is Matthew Knies. Columbus got him from Toronto in a 6-player deal that sent Kirill Marchenko the other way, and Knies had 2 goals and an assist in his debut, a 6-3 opening win over Buffalo. He had 2 goals and 2 assists through 3 games heading into St. Louis, with Charlie Coyle and Zach Werenski adding 3 points each. Cam Talbot also debuted for Columbus with 20 saves and a perfect shootout in a 3-2 win over Pittsburgh. Columbus has found goals in different ways from game to game, and that is exactly what Florida hasn't been able to do lately.

Florida Panthers
(2-1-2)
10/10LvsWild1-4
10/07W@Kings2-1
10/05L@Ducks2-3
10/02L@Sharks3-4
09/29W@Hurricanes1-0
Columbus Blue Jackets
(2-2-0)
10/10L@Blues3-5
10/09WvsPenguins3-2
10/03LvsMammoth1-4
10/01WvsSabres6-3

The matchup is easy to describe. Columbus will be rested and at home, with a forward group that looks deeper than last year's after the Knies trade. Florida, missing Barkov and Marchand, wins when the score stays in the 1s and 2s and it can grind the game down. If the Jackets score early, the Panthers haven't shown they can chase a game. If it's 1-1 heading into the 3rd, this is the kind of game Florida has already won twice this month. Puck drop is 6:15 PM ET on Tuesday, October 13.

Florida Panthers at Columbus Blue Jackets — Shorthanded Panthers Hit Columbus on the Back End of a Back-to-Back | Polymarket Odds · Barstool Bush