Fact checked at 8:02 AM ET, Nov 10, 2026Odds as of 7:27 AM ET, Nov 10, 2026
Florida closes a road trip at Nationwide Arena tonight at 7:30 PM ET, and this sets up as a game with very little room in it. Columbus scores 2.53 goals per game, fourth-fewest in the league, while Florida allows 25.3 shots a night, sixth-fewest. A thin Blue Jackets attack running into a team that keeps the shot count down is how this stays under 5.5, and both picks come from that.
Florida is 9-7-2 and has lost three of its last four, including a 4-1 loss in Boston that finished a back-to-back. Columbus is 7-8-0, 6-3-0 at home, and has had three days off since a 5-2 loss in Buffalo. Florida is a short favorite, and the total sits at 5.5.
Jacob Markstrom and Cam Talbot are the projected goalies, and neither is confirmed. Florida is without Aleksander Barkov, Brad Marchand and Jonah Gadjovich, and Sandis Vilmanis is day-to-day. Columbus is missing Conor Garland and Isac Lundestrom, and defenseman Denton Mateychuk is a game-time decision.
Panthers vs. Blue Jackets Predictions
Pick #1Under 5.5+111
Columbus averages 25.8 shots and 2.53 goals a game, and tonight it sees a team that allows 25.3 shots, sixth-fewest in the NHL. That matchup points to a 3-2 or 3-1 kind of night, and either score cashes the Under.
The recent form fits. Six of Columbus' last 10 games finished with five goals or fewer, and the Blue Jackets have scored two or fewer in four of their last five. Special teams point the same way. Florida takes a lot of penalties, but its penalty kill runs at 85.7%, and Columbus converts 17.5% of its power plays.
At +111, the price implies a 47.4% chance. The season records hover around that number (Columbus games have stayed under 5.5 in 8 of 15, Florida's in 8 of 18), so this is a bet on the matchup rather than a trend: one of the league's weaker attacks against a team that limits shots.
We can't ignore the first meeting. Florida won 7-3 in Columbus, with Brady Tkachuk scoring a natural hat trick and Talbot allowing six goals on 23 shots. Florida's power play (23.5%) against a Columbus penalty kill at 75.6% is the likeliest route to an Over, and Markstrom's .887 save percentage doesn't leave much cushion. Both goalies are projected, not confirmed, and a backup start on either side makes this harder to hold.
Pick #2Adam Fantilli Under 0.5 Points−125
Fantilli's role tells the story. He centers the second line between Valeri Nichushkin and Dmitri Voronkov and works the second power-play unit, while the top unit belongs to Matthew Knies, Sean Monahan, Charlie Coyle, Zach Werenski and Kent Johnson. He had 13 power-play points last season and has one this season.
His scoring has dropped with that role. He has six points in 15 games and has been held off the sheet in 10 of them, including each of his last five. He played 20:27 against Florida in the first meeting and finished without a point, and a team that limits shots and kills 85.7% of its penalties is a hard opponent for a second-unit forward.
The Under at -125 carries a 55.6% break-even. His longer record is the catch: last season he had a point in more than half his games, and he's shooting 8.9% on 45 shots this season, below his career rate. He also averages 20:49 a night, so the chances are there. Still, the power-play time that padded last season's totals isn't his right now, and the quiet Columbus night we're backing with the Under should keep him off the scoresheet too.
21+ (18+ where permitted). Odds subject to change. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER.
