Tampa Bay Lightning (24-9-2) vs Columbus Blue Jackets (14-15-8)
Game Info: Thursday, April 1, 2021 at 7:00 pm (Amalie Arena)
Betting Odds: Tampa Bay Lightning -250 / Columbus Blue Jackets +200 --- Over/Under: 5.5 Click Here for the Latest Odds
Where to Watch: BSSUN, BSOH Stream live sports and exclusive originals on ESPN+. Sign up now!
The Columbus Blue Jackets and the Tampa Bay Lightning meet in NHL action from the Amalie Arena on Thursday night.
The Columbus Blue Jackets will look to build on their 3-1 win over the Lightning in their last matchup. Oliver Bjorkstrand leads Columbus in scoring with 30 points including a team-high 13 goals and 17 assists while Cam Atkinson has 13 goals and 12 assists for his 25-point tally this season. Jack Roslovic and Seth Jones each have 15+ assists as well this season for the Blue Jackets. As a team, Columbus is averaging 2.5 goals on 28.4 shots per game with a 14.9% success rate on the PP while allowing 3.2 goals on 31.3 shots against with a 75.5% kill rate on the PK this season.
The Tampa Bay Lightning will be out to rebound from their frustrating loss to the Blue Jackets last time out. Vicror Hedman leads the Lightning in scoring with 33 points including a team-high 27 assists while Steven Stamkos and Ondrej Palat each have 31 points with Stamkos logging a team-high 16 goals while Palat has 19 assists. Brayden Point has 30 points with 13 goals and 17 assists and Yanni Gourde and Alex Killorn both have 23 points with Gourde logging 13 goals while Killorn has 13 assists this season. As a team, Tampa Bay is averaging 3.6 goals on 30.1 shots per game with a 27.7% success rate on the power play while allowing 2.4 goals on 28.2 shots per game with an 81.8% success rate on the PK this season.
Columbus is 4-1 in their last 5 games as a road underdog and 1-4 in their last 5 games overall while the under is 20-4-3 in their last 27 road games. Tampa Bay is 37-15 in their last 52 home games and 37-16 in their last 53 games as a favorite while the over is 9-4-1 in their last 14 games overall. The road team is 5-2 in the last 7 meetings between these two teams.
I get why the Bolts are favored in this spot, but realistically, the Blue Jackets battle this Tampa bay team hard going all the way back to the bubble last season. It’s not often that the Lightning are going to drop back-to-back games, but the Blue Jackets continue to provide value with these big underdog prices so I’ll take them. Give me the Blue Jackets and the huge plus money here.
Chris’s Pick Columbus +200
AUTHOR: Chris Ruffolo
Follow Chris Ruffolo on Twitter @ruffthepickdawg