The Tampa Bay Lightning and the Columbus Blue Jackets meet Thursday 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 Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Columbus Blue Jackets prediction.
Tampa Bay Lightning Recap
The Tampa Bay Lightning come into this one looking to build on their three-game win streak after a 3-2 OT win over Pittsburgh last time out. After this game, Tampa Bay will head home for a matchup with Dallas.
Lightning Looking For 4th Straight W
Nikita Kucherov leads the Bolts with 26 points including a team-high 11 goals and 15 assists while Brandon Hagel has 17 points with 8 goals and 9 assists and Anthony Cirelli has 17 points of his own with 12 assists. Brayden Point has 15 points with 10 goals and 5 assists while Victor Hedman has 17 points with 13 assists. Jake Guentzel also has 17 points with 7 goals and 10 assists. Andrei Vasilevskiy has gone 9-5-1 with a 2.13 GAA and a .919 save percentage while Jonas Johansson has gone 1-1 with a 4.51 GAA and a .866 save percentage on the year in goal for Tampa Bay.
Why the Tampa Bay Lightning will win
- The Blue Jackets have lost 10 of their last 11 night games following a road win.
- The Lightning have won 10 of their last 12 games against the Blue Jackets.
- The favorites have covered the puck line in five of the last six games between the Lightning and Blue Jackets.
- The Blue Jackets have failed to cover the puck line in seven of their last nine games.
Columbus Blue Jackets Recap
The Columbus Blue Jackets come into this one looking to build on a 5-1 win over the Boston Bruins last time out. After this game, the Blue Jackets will welcome the Carolina Hurricanes to town.
Blue Jackets Looking To Find Consistency
Kirill Marchenko leads the Blue Jackets in scoring with 16 points including 6 goals and a team-high 10 assists while Sean Monahan has 15 points with a team-high 6 goals and 9 assists. Zach Werenski has 14 points with 4 goals and 10 assists while Yegor Chinakhov has 12 points with 5 goals and 7 assists. Cole Sillinger also has 10 points with 7 assists while Kevin Labanc has 10 points with 9 assists. Daniil Tarasov is 3-4-1 with a 4.04 GAA and an .861 save percentage while Elvis Merzlikins is 4-5-1 with a 2.72 GAA and a .905 save percentage this season between the pipes for Columbus.
Why the Columbus Blue Jackets will win
- The Blue Jackets have won each of their last four games as home underdogs against Eastern Conference opponents.
- The Lightning have lost five of their last seven games as road favorites following a road win.
- The Blue Jackets have covered the puck line in each of their last seven home games against Eastern Conference opponents.
- The Lightning have failed to cover the puck line in each of their last four road games.
Lightning vs. Blue Jackets Prediction
I’m on the Lightning here. The Blue Jackets are a lot easier to tolerate when they’re playing at home, but the Lightning are still the better team across the board with more trustworthy goaltending, and Tampa Bay’s also had the run of recent success between these two teams. Give me the Lightning.