Pittsburgh Penguins vs Columbus Blue Jackets Final — October 9, 2026
Injuries & restkey injuries · rest and travel
About these numbers
Goalie status from the G&W goalie tracker (Confirmed, Expected, Likely or Not confirmed); teams confirm starters close to puck drop. Season lines come from the NHL Lab goalie tables. GSAx = goals saved above expected (Gridiron & Wine expected goals). HD Sv% = save rate on high-danger shots.
Full 2025-26 regular season (last season), captured before kickoff. League rank in small type (32 teams); the gold side ranks higher. Bars show rank, longest = 1st. Source: Gridiron & Wine public Analytics tables.
2025-26 regular season, public NHL Lab tables; ranks out of 32 teams. Expected goals are Gridiron & Wine's own expected-goals numbers.
2025-26 regular season. Rates are per 60 minutes of power-play or penalty-kill time.
Regular-season results this season, oldest to newest (OTL = overtime or shootout loss). Records are season to date, with home and road splits. Over–under uses the consensus closing total.
Distance is straight-line from each team's home arena; time-zone change is at game time. Rest counts days since each team's previous game.
No key players listed.
Injury report as of October 9, 12:40 p.m. ET: no key players listed for either team.
The pre-game matchup
The Penguins (2-2-0) visited the Blue Jackets (1-1-0) on Friday, October 9 at 7:10 PM ET.
Last season (2025-26), the Penguins scored 3.57 goals per game (3rd of 32) and allowed 3.27 (24th). The Blue Jackets scored 3.09 goals per game (16th of 32) and allowed 3.09 (16th). The Penguins earned 59.8% of available standings points (10th) and the Blue Jackets 56.1% (15th).
Expected-goals share (5-on-5), the share of 5-on-5 expected goals created: Penguins 51.7% (8th), Blue Jackets 51.4% (10th). Shot-attempt share (5-on-5), the share of all 5-on-5 shot attempts: Penguins 50.2% (13th), Blue Jackets 50.8% (11th). High-danger chance share, the share of 5-on-5 high-danger chances: Penguins 57.4% (3rd), Blue Jackets 50.3% (15th). These are last season's full-season numbers because the new season's sample is still small; rosters change over the offseason.
The total closed 6.5, unchanged from the open. After removing the vig, the closing moneyline (Penguins -105, Blue Jackets -118) prices the Penguins at 49% and the Blue Jackets at 51%.
Written from the numbers available before kickoff.
Result
Final score and result vs the closing line
Pittsburgh Penguins 2, Columbus Blue Jackets 3
Columbus Blue Jackets won by 1.
- Against the closing spread (Columbus Blue Jackets -1.5): Pittsburgh Penguins covered.
- Combined score 5 vs the closing total of 6.5: Under.
- Columbus Blue Jackets closed at -118 on the moneyline (a 51% no-vig market-implied chance).
Actual result
Columbus Blue Jackets 3
Before the game: market and G&W
From open to close the market moved 1 point toward Pittsburgh Penguins.
Market numbers are the consensus moneyline with the bookmaker margin removed.
Win probability
Each team's chance of winning through the game, starting from the market's closing price (Pittsburgh Penguins 49%, Columbus Blue Jackets 51%) and moving with every goal, penalty and the clock until the final.
Biggest swings
- 1st 10:52 — Columbus Blue Jackets goal (0-1)Columbus Blue Jackets 51% → 67% (+16 pts)
- 3rd 3:19 — Pittsburgh Penguins goal (2-2)Pittsburgh Penguins 22% → 49% (+27 pts)
- OT 5:00 — Columbus Blue Jackets game-endColumbus Blue Jackets 50% → 100% (+50 pts)
Chance Quality Result
Based on the quality of chances each team created, Columbus Blue Jackets won 78% of G&W replays (Pittsburgh Penguins 22%). The result went to the side that created the better chances.
The Chance Quality Result describes the chances each team created. It is not the official result and never changes it or any record. Expected goals count regulation chances with both goalies in net; empty-net goals are not included. Season xG tables count every game state, empty nets included, so their totals differ.
Game DNA
The Chance Quality Result above favoured Columbus Blue Jackets. Here is where that came from.
| Penguins | Goals | Blue Jackets |
|---|---|---|
| 2.1 | 5-on-5 chancesexpected goals | 3.1 |
| 0.0 | Power-play chancesexpected goals | 1.0 |
| 0.0 | Other situations4-on-4, 3-on-3, short-handed | 0.1 |
| 2.1 | Chance Quality Result chancesthe three rows above, as in the result | 4.2 |
| 0.8 | Overtime and pulled-goalie chancesnot part of the Chance Quality Result | 0.5 |
| 0.4 | Second chancesrebounds and flurries, part of the above | 1.0 |
| -0.9 | Finishinggoals vs expected on own shots | -2.7 |
| +2.7 | Goaltendingsaves vs expected · Sergei Murashov 43/45 · Cam Talbot 20/22 | +0.9 |
How the margin was built, from Columbus Blue Jackets's side:
The first three rows add up to the Chance Quality Result's expected goals. Overtime chances and chances with a goalie pulled are listed on their own, and empty-net goals are not in expected goals. A team's finishing and the other team's goaltending are the same goals seen from each end.
The official play, graded
The official play on this game, at the price it was sent, graded against the final score.
Every official play is logged and graded, wins and losses alike. Full track record.
Line review
Columbus Blue Jackets closed as the market favourite at 51% and won.
The line moved toward Pittsburgh Penguins before puck drop, and they lost.
Market
Closing line and line movement
Penguins +1.5 (-232)
Penguins +1.5 (-262)
Blue Jackets -121 53%
Blue Jackets -118 51%
Consensus of US sportsbooks. Open = first line after both teams' previous games; Close = consensus at kickoff. Percentages are the moneyline's no-vig market-implied chances.
Members
G&W Line
G&W’s own number for this game, next to the market. Analytics
Matchup
Head-to-head
The teams have met 26 times since 2018-19: the Penguins won 18 and the Blue Jackets 8.
| Date | Score | Line | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 17, 2026 | Blue Jackets 4, Penguins 3 SO Blue Jackets won | Penguins -120 underdog won | 6.5 over |
| Jan 4, 2026 | Penguins 5, Blue Jackets 4 OT Penguins won | Blue Jackets -130 underdog won | 6.5 over |
| Nov 28, 2025 | Penguins 4, Blue Jackets 3 OT Penguins won | Blue Jackets -135 underdog won | 6.5 over |
| Oct 25, 2025 | Blue Jackets 5, Penguins 4 SO Blue Jackets won | Penguins -120 underdog won | 6.5 over |
| Mar 21, 2025 | Blue Jackets 3, Penguins 6 Penguins won | Penguins -118 favorite won | 6 over |
Regular-season meetings since 2018-19, most recent first. Line = consensus closing moneyline favorite and total where line history is available.
Teams
Pittsburgh Penguins
- Pittsburgh Penguins team stats
- Nashville Predators 2, Pittsburgh Penguins 3 (Oct 24)
- Florida Panthers 0, Pittsburgh Penguins 4 (Oct 22)
- Pittsburgh Penguins 4, Utah Mammoth 5 (Oct 19)
Columbus Blue Jackets
- Columbus Blue Jackets team stats
- Columbus Blue Jackets 4, Philadelphia Flyers 3 (Oct 27)
- Vegas Golden Knights 1, Columbus Blue Jackets 2 (Oct 24)
- Toronto Maple Leafs 6, Columbus Blue Jackets 2 (Oct 20)
Gridiron & Wine graded a pick on this game: see the archived pick.
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