The Tampa Bay Lightning and the Columbus Blue Jackets meet Saturday in NHL action from the Nationwide Arena. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Blue Jackets vs Lightning Prediction.
Tampa Bay Lightning Recap
The Tampa Bay Lightning come into this game looking to add on to their 2-1 shootout win over Chicago from Friday night. After this game, Tampa Bay will head home for a game against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Lightning Win 3 Straight
Going into the game against Chicago, Nikita Kucherov leads the Lightning in scoring with 73 points including 24 goals and 49 assists while Brandon Hagel has 46 points with 25 goals and 21 assists and Jake Guentzel has 51 points with 22 goals and 29 assists. Anthony Cirelli has 30 points with 13 goals and 17 assists. Darren Raddysh has also added 42 points with 12 goals and 30 assists as well on the year. Andrei Vasilevskiy has gone 21-7-3 with a 2.18 GAA and a .917 save percentage while Jonas Johansson is 10-6-1 with a 2.73 GAA and an .896 save percentage this season.
Why the Tampa Bay Lightning will win
- The Lightning have won 14 of their last 15 games.
- The Blue Jackets have lost each of their last six games as home underdogs following a win.
- The Blue Jackets have failed to cover the puck line in eight of their last nine home games when playing with a rest advantage.
- The Lightning have covered the puck line in seven of their last eight away games when playing with a rest disadvantage.
Tampa Bay Lightning Player Prop Facts
- Nikita Kucherov has scored at least one goal in eight of the Lightning’s last 10 road games.
- Jake Guentzel has recorded an assist in each of his last six appearances against the Blue Jackets.
- Nikita Kucherov ranks T2nd in the league for Assists (49) this season.
Columbus Blue Jackets Recap
The Columbus Blue Jackets come into this game looking to add on to their 1-0 win over Dallas last time out to sit at 23-20-7 this season. After this game, Columbus will take on the Los Angeles Kings.
Blue Jackets Win 5 Of Last 6
Zach Werenski has 52 points with 18 goals and a team-high 34 assists while Dmitri Voronkov has 16 goals and 14 assists for his 30 points. Kirill Marchenko has 41 points with 18 goals and 23 assists and Charlie Coyle has 30 points with 20 assists. Adam Fantilli has 30 points with 12 goals and 18 assists of his own while Sean Monahan has 23 points with 7 goals and 16 assists. Jet Greaves has gone 14-12-6 with a 2.72 GAA and a .908 save percentage while Elvis Merzlikins has gone 8-8-1 with a 3.81 GAA and an .882 save percentage between the pipes for Columbus so far this season.
Why the Columbus Blue Jackets will win
- The home team has won eight of the last nine games between the Lightning and Blue Jackets.
- The Lightning have lost three of their last four games as road favorites following a shootout win.
- The Lightning have failed to cover the puck line in each of their last six games as road favorites following a shootout win.
- The Blue Jackets have covered the puck line in 11 of their last 12 games as home underdogs against opponents on a winning streak.
Columbus Blue Jackets Player Prop Facts
- Sean Monahan has scored at least one goal in five of his last six appearances with the Blue Jackets as home underdogs against Atlantic Division opponents.
- Zach Werenski has recorded at least one assist in each of the Blue Jackets’ last four home games against the Lightning.
- Kirill Marchenko ranks 1st in the league for shootout goals (5) this season.
Total Goals Facts
- Each of the Lightning’s last five games have gone UNDER the total goals line.
- Six of the Blue Jackets’ last seven games as home underdogs following a home win have gone OVER the total goals line.
- Each of the last five Saturday games at Nationwide Arena have gone UNDER the total goals line.
Blue Jackets vs Lightning Prediction
I’m on Tampa Bay here. I just think that the Lightning are rolling and aren’t a team I’m looking to step in front of right now. The Blue Jackets have been in a great run of form themselves, but I just feel like at this price, it’s hard to pass on Tampa Bay, so give me the Bolts.