Once Upon A Time In Las Vegas – Championship Sunday
Columbus Blue Jackets (15-30-3) vs. Seattle Kraken (28-14-5)
The 2022-23 NHL season goes on with a 11-game Saturday card and brings this interconference clash from the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington when the Columbus Blue Jackets take on the Seattle Kraken at 10:00 p.m. ET.
Seattle enters the contest as a slight favorite on the Moneyline (-275) and are at +100 when giving up 1.5 goals. The total is set at 6.5. Columbus has won both meetings between these teams, winning 5-4 in December 2021 and 2-1 in overtime in October 2021.
Kent Johnson scored 2:29 into overtime to give the Columbus Blue Jackets a 3-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers. Columbus is 2-0-1 in their last three games. This will be the final contest of a four-game road trip, as the club plays in Vancouver on Friday, but that contest was not included in this analysis. Columbus trailed by a goal in this contest, but Kirill Marchenko scored at 11:26 to tie the game and send it to overtime.
“It's one of the best feelings to get an OT winner, that was a huge win for us,” said Johnson, who also had an assist. “These are the type of games you want to play in; they're really fun and have great energy. You have to manage the game to get the win. I think we've been pretty good in OT all year, but I think we're getting more comfortable in these tight games.”
last night was fun @iDLiveSimply | #CBJ pic.twitter.com/lW8QHTsFx8
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) January 26, 2023
Johnson finished with a goal and an assist in the victory and Adam Boqvist had two assists. Joonas Korpisalo was fantastic in the victory, stopping 34 shots. That snapped a string of five straight games of allowing at least three goals, and he has now allowed 18 over his last five games. Columbus will need spectacular goaltending, something they have not received this season, 30th overall at 3.85 goals allowed per game. They are 29th in scoring (2.58 goals per contest).