Lightning vs Blue Jackets Prediction 3/4/25 NHL Picks Today

The Columbus Blue Jackets and the Tampa Bay Lightning meet Tuesday in NHL action from the Amalie Arena. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Lightning vs Blue Jackets Prediction.

Matchup History

The Tampa Bay Lightning won the most recent meeting between these two teams back on December 17^th, 2024, at home by a final score of 5-3. The win made it back-to-back wins for the home team in this matchup and six wins in the last eight meetings for the Lightning in this head-to-head matchup.

Columbus Blue Jackets Recap

The Columbus Blue Jackets come into this one looking to add on to their 5-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings last time out to improve to 30-22-8 on the year. After this game, Columbus will continue their road trip with a date against the Florida Panthers.

Blue Jackets Win Four In A Row

Zach Werenski leads the Blue Jackets in scoring with 62 points including 18 goals and a team-high 44 assists while Kirill Marchenko has 59 points with a team-high 23 goals and 36 assists. Sean Monahan has 41 points with 14 goals and 27 assists while Dmitri Voronkov has 39 points with 19 goals and 20 assists. Kent Johnson has 39 points with 19 goals and 20 assists and Cole Sillinger has 29 points with 20 assists. Daniil Tarasov is 5-7-2 with a 3.69 GAA and an .876 save percentage while Elvis Merzlikins is 21-14-4 with a 2.96 GAA and an .895 save percentage this season between the pipes for Columbus. Jet Greaves has also gone 2-1-2 with a 2.98 GAA and a .906 save percentage as well for the Blue Jackets.

Why the Columbus Blue Jackets will win

• The Lightning have lost four of their last five games as home favorites on the second leg of a back-to-back.
• The Blue Jackets have won each of their last three games as underdogs.
• The Blue Jackets have covered the puck line in each of their last seven games.
• The Lightning have failed to cover the puck line in each of their last seven home games on the second leg of a back-to-back.

Columbus Blue Jackets Player Prop Facts

• Adam Fantilli has scored the last goal in three of the Blue Jackets’ last four games.
• Kent Johnson has scored a goal in four of the Blue Jackets’ last five games against Eastern Conference opponents.
• Boone Jenner has recorded at least one assist in each of the Blue Jackets’ last four games against opponents who are playing on the second leg of a back-to-back.
• Kent Johnson has recorded at least one point in each of the Blue Jackets’ last eight road games against opponents who are playing on the second leg of a back-to-back.
• Kirill Marchenko ranks T1st in the league for Plus/Minus (+35) this season.

Tampa Bay Lightning Recap

The Tampa Bay Lightning come into this game off of their 2-1 loss at the hands of the Florida Panthers last time out to sit at 35-21-4 on the year. After this game, the Tampa Bay Lightning will square off against the Buffalo Sabres at home.

Lightning Have Eight-Game Win Streak Snapped

Nikita Kucherov leads the Bolts with 87 points including a team-high 27 goals and 60 assists while Brandon Hagel has 68 points with 30 goals and 38 assists and Anthony Cirelli has 45 points of his own with 25 assists. Brayden Point has 61 points with 31 goals and 30 assists while Victor Hedman has 47 points with 38 assists. Jake Guentzel also has 56 points with 27 goals and 29 assists. Andrei Vasilevskiy has gone 29-15-3 with a 2.18 GAA and a .923 save percentage while Jonas Johansson has gone 6-5-1 with a 3.24 GAA and an .892 save percentage on the year in goal for Tampa Bay.

Why the Tampa Bay Lightning will win

• The Blue Jackets have lost each of their last eight games at Amalie Arena.
• The favorites have won each of the Lightning’s last nine games.
• The Lightning have covered the puck line in each of their last eight games.
• The Blue Jackets have failed to cover the puck line in each of their last five games at Amalie Arena.

Tampa Bay Lightning Player Prop Facts

• Brandon Hagel has scored at least one goal in seven of the Lightning’s last eight games as favorites.
• Jake Guentzel has recorded at least one point in each of his last 17 appearances with his team as a favorite against the Blue Jackets.
• Nikita Kucherov has recorded at least one assist in each of the Lightning’s last five games against the Blue Jackets at Amalie Arena.
• Nikita Kucherov ranks 1st in the league for multi-assist games (18) this season.

Total Goals Facts

• Each of the Lightning’s last five games has gone UNDER the total goals line.
• Each of the Blue Jackets’ last four games following a win has gone OVER the total goals line.

Lightning vs Blue Jackets Prediction

I’m on the over in this game. Columbus is hot right now, even though they haven’t been the best road team this season. If Tampa Bay was on a back-to-back here, I’d likely be on the Lightning based on how strong the Bolts were at home this season. However, there’s a good chance we see the backup goalie for Tampa in Jonas Johansson, and he’s a huge step down for the Lightning between the pipes. I think this is going to have a lot of goals in this game, so give me the over here.