Our Panthers vs Blue Jackets prediction covers a Frozen Frenzy opener at Nationwide Arena on Tuesday evening. Columbus sits at -125 on the moneyline, Florida is priced at +105, and the total has been pushed to 6.0. The Panthers play on zero days of rest after Monday’s loss in Buffalo. The Blue Jackets have not played since Saturday. Below we work through the goaltending, the schedule spot and the market, then make two picks.
Last Updated: October 13, 2026
Florida Panthers vs. Columbus Blue Jackets — Game Info
| Where | Nationwide Arena, Columbus Ohio |
| When | October 13 – 6:15 PM ET |
| TV | Blue Jackets Hockey Network, Scripps Sports |
Florida Panthers vs. Columbus Blue Jackets Betting Preview
Goaltending leads this one, and neither club has named a starter. Daily Faceoff and Rotowire both project Akira Schmid for Florida and Jet Greaves for Columbus. That read is provisional until a morning-skate confirmation lands. Jacob Markstrom started Monday in Buffalo and did not come back out for the second period. Head coach Paul Maurice said afterward there was no injury. Schmid relieved him and allowed three goals on 21 shots. Markstrom carries a .904 save percentage and a 2.03 goals-against average through five starts. Schmid sits at .868 and 4.14 over two appearances. Greaves has been no better, at .867 with a 3.69 goals-against average in three starts. Cam Talbot is the alternative in Columbus, and he is 1-0-0 with a .909 mark.
Florida Panthers vs. Columbus Blue Jackets Odds
| Puck Line | Moneyline | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Panthers | +1.5 (-245) | +105 | O 6.0 (-108) |
| Blue Jackets | -1.5 (+205) | -125 | U 6.0 (-112) |
Odds accurate as of October 13, 2026 via TheSpread.com. Odds change, get the latest NHL Odds – Futures – Props
Florida Panthers vs. Columbus Blue Jackets — Who Is the Public Betting?
| Panthers | 54% | 46% | Blue Jackets |
See the latest NHL Public Betting Splits and make smarter wagers!
Florida enters at 2-2-2 and sixth in the Atlantic Division. Five of the Panthers’ six games have come on the road. They have scored 12 goals across those six nights, an average of 2.00 per game. Three of the six needed overtime. Columbus is 2-2-0 and fifth in the Metropolitan Division, with three of its four games at Nationwide Arena. The Blue Jackets have averaged 3.00 goals for and 3.50 against. Florida took two of three meetings last season, and both of its wins needed overtime. Columbus won the only one played in Ohio, 4-2 on March 5.
Both lineups are thinner than the logos suggest. Florida is without captain Aleksander Barkov, who is expected to miss six to eight weeks with a lower-body injury. Brad Marchand and Jonah Gadjovich are also out. That has moved Sam Bennett up the middle between Brady Tkachuk and Matthew Tkachuk. Columbus is missing defensemen Ivan Provorov and Dante Fabbro, which is why Zach Werenski is logging 29:34 a night. Matthew Knies, acquired from Toronto in the Kirill Marchenko trade, opens on the top line with Adam Fantilli and Kent Johnson. On special teams the gap is wide. Florida’s power play is 3-for-32, and two of those goals came from Sam Reinhart on Monday. Columbus converts at 20.0 percent and won its last home game against Pittsburgh in a shootout. The Blue Jackets also win 58.6 percent of their faceoffs, the best rate in the league, against Florida’s 48.0 percent.
The market has moved, though not dramatically. Columbus opened at -120 and now sits at -125. The total opened at 5.5 with the Over priced at -138, and it now reads 6.0 with nearly even juice. In true terms that is a shift of roughly a tenth of a goal. The timing points at Florida’s goaltending news rather than anything else. Public money offers nothing useful here. Puck-line tickets split 54 percent to Florida and 46 percent to Columbus, while the moneyline split runs 55 percent to Columbus. In each case the number has drifted with the tickets rather than against them. There is no reverse line movement to read.
Panthers vs. Blue Jackets Prediction — The Last Three Meetings Produced 13, 6 and 3 Goals
Florida’s offense has not worked since opening night. The Panthers have 12 goals in six games, and nobody on the roster has more than five points. Matthew Tkachuk leads the team with three goals. Reinhart’s pair on Monday accounted for two-thirds of Florida’s power-play output for the entire season. Without Barkov and Marchand, the Panthers are running Bennett as a first-line center in only his third game there. That unit is days old, and new units rarely click immediately.
The defensive side has held up far better. Florida allows 24.67 shots per game, one of the lowest marks in the league, and 2.83 goals against. Maurice’s teams defend with structure, and a club playing its sixth straight game away from home tends to tighten rather than open up. Columbus, meanwhile, draws only 2.5 power plays per game. That matters, because a 20.0 percent conversion rate needs opportunities before it produces anything. Four of Florida’s six games have produced five goals or fewer.
The case against this read starts in net and it is a fair one. Neither projected starter has stopped pucks at a league-average rate. Columbus games have produced 6.75 combined goals per night across four outings, including a 6-3 win over Buffalo two weeks ago. Empty-net goals routinely turn one-goal hockey games into two-goal results, which lifts the floor further. However, if Markstrom is cleared and starts, this read gets stronger rather than weaker. That is the single input worth checking before puck drop.
The Pick: Under 6.0 (-112)
Panthers vs. Blue Jackets Prediction — Florida Lands in Columbus on Zero Days of Rest
Schedule spots carry more weight in hockey than in most sports, and this is a severe one. Florida played Monday afternoon in Buffalo, lost 5-3, and travels into Ohio for a 6:15 p.m. ET start. It is the sixth consecutive game the Panthers have played away from home. Columbus last played Saturday in St. Louis and has had three days to recover. The Blue Jackets have also played two fewer games overall, which matters six games into a season. Add a first-line center playing out of his usual role and the fatigue compounds.
The counterargument runs through Columbus’s own net and blue line. Greaves has allowed 11 goals on 83 shots across three starts, and the Blue Jackets are down two top-four defensemen. Florida still drives play. By MoneyPuck’s five-on-five numbers the Panthers hold a 55 percent expected-goals share through six games, narrowly ahead of Columbus at 54 percent through four. Florida also took two of three in this series last season. Still, rested home teams beat tired road teams every week in this league, and the number has not moved far enough to price that out.
The Pick: Columbus Blue Jackets Moneyline (-125)
Our Final Word on Panthers vs. Blue Jackets
Neither of these is a strong play, and both deserve a smaller stake than usual. They also lean on the same underlying input. A low-event, one-goal hockey game serves both of them. Treat them as one read expressed two ways rather than two independent bets. Note too that the full-game total settles on the final score, so overtime and the shootout count. The goaltending confirmation is the thing to watch, because it can swing either position before puck drop.
Our first pick is the full-game under at 6.0 (-112), and it rests on a Florida offense averaging 2.00 goals per game. Our second pick is Columbus on the moneyline at -125, where three days of rest at home is the clearest situational edge available.
NHL Panthers vs. Blue Jackets FAQ: October 13, 2026
What time does the Panthers vs. Blue Jackets game start?
The Panthers and Blue Jackets drop the puck at 6:15 p.m. ET on Tuesday, October 13, 2026. The early start is part of the NHL’s Frozen Frenzy, a 16-game night featuring all 32 teams on staggered start times from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET.
What channel is the Panthers vs. Blue Jackets game on?
Blue Jackets Hockey Network carries the game in the Columbus market, and Scripps Sports carries it inside Florida’s broadcast territory. This game is not a national exclusive, so the coverage is regional. Fubo and the Blue Jackets’ Prime Video channel also distribute the Columbus broadcast.
Where are the Panthers and Blue Jackets playing?
The game is at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, the Blue Jackets’ home building. It is the first of three meetings between the clubs this season. The two sides meet again in Columbus on November 10 and in Florida on March 30.
Is Aleksander Barkov playing tonight?
No. The Florida captain is out with a lower-body injury and is expected to miss six to eight weeks, though he avoided surgery. Barkov played the first two games of the season before going down. The Panthers have also been without Brad Marchand since then.
Who won the last meeting between the Panthers and Blue Jackets?
Florida won the most recent meeting 2-1 in overtime on March 12, 2026, at home. The Panthers took the 2025-26 season series two games to one. The Columbus win came at Nationwide Arena on March 5, 2026, by a 4-2 score in regulation.
What are the Panthers and Blue Jackets records this season?
Florida is 2-2-2 with six points through six games, which places the Panthers sixth in the Atlantic Division and tenth in the Eastern Conference. Columbus is 2-2-0 with four points through four games, fifth in the Metropolitan Division. Both clubs lost their most recent outing.