Blues Goalie Hofer Makes Us Look Foolish in 5-3 Columbus Beatdown

Well, that stings. We backed the Blue Jackets at plus-money based on their superior form and offensive firepower, figuring St. Louis's home struggles would continue. Instead, Joel Hofer reminded everyone why we flagged him as a problem in the first place—the kid was lights-out again, backstopping the Blues to a 5-3 victory that wasn't as close as the final score suggests.

Columbus's back-to-back fatigue showed up exactly when it mattered. They hung around early, but St. Louis broke it open in the second period and never looked back. The Jackets' 3.0 goals-per-game average meant nothing against a goalie playing possessed, and their defensive lapses—always a concern on zero rest—got exploited repeatedly. Five goals allowed tells you everything about how the fatigue narrative we downplayed came roaring back to bite us.

Credit where it's due: the Blues' 1-3 start apparently lit a fire. They looked nothing like the lifeless squad that stumbled out of the gate, finding their offensive rhythm at the perfect time to torch our ticket. Hofer's elite early form wasn't market overreaction—it was legitimate, and we paid the price for betting against it. Sometimes the obvious mismatch is obvious for a reason. Columbus +105 goes down as a clean miss.