Tampa Bay Lightning at Columbus Blue Jackets - 4/8/21 NHL Picks and Prediction
Photo by Russell LaBounty-USA TODAY Sports
Columbus Blue Jackets (15-18-8) vs Tampa Bay Lightning (26-11-2)
Game Info: Thursday, April 8, 2021 at 7:00 pm (Nationwide Arena)
Betting Odds: Columbus Blue Jackets +155 / Tampa Bay Lightning -188 --- Over/Under: 5.5 Click Here for the Latest Odds
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The Tampa Bay Lightning and Columbus Blue Jackets meet Thursday in NHL action at the Nationwide Arena.
The Tampa Bay Lightning need a win after losing five of their last seven games. The Tampa Bay Lightning are averaging 3.4 goals per game and are scoring on 26.2 percent of their power play opportunities. Steven Stamkos leads Tampa Bay with 16 goals, Victor Hedman has 29 assists and Brayden Point has 99 shots on goal. Defensively, the Tampa Bay Lightning are allowing 2.5 goals per game and are killing 81 percent of their opponents power plays. Andrei Vasilevskiy has given up 60 goals on 865 shots faced and Curtis McElhinney has given up 24 goals on 203 shots.
The Columbus Blue Jackets need a win after losing seven of their last nine games. The Columbus Blue Jackets are averaging 2.4 goals per game and are scoring on 14.4 percent of their power play opportunities. Oliver Bjorkstrand leads Columbus with 14 goals, Steh Jones has 17 assists and Cam Atkinson has 118 shots on goal. Defensively, the Columbus Blue Jackets are allowing 3.1 goals per game and are killing 78.1 percent of their opponents power plays. Joonas Korpisalo has given up 77 goals on 789 shots faced and Elvis Merzlikins has allowed 43 goals on 509 shots.
The Lightning are 21-10 in their last 31 road games and 70-30 in their last 100 overall. The Blue Jackets are 3-8 in their last 11 home games and 2-7 in their last 9 overall. The over is 8-1 in Lightning last 9 road games. The under is 9-3 in Blue Jackets last 12 overall. The Lightning are 4-1 in the last 5 meetings in Columbus and 5-2 in the last 7 meetings. The favorite is 5-2 in the last 7 meetings.
The Tampa Bay Lightning won't stay in this funk for long, but they've lost five of their last seven games, and you've cashed some big underdog tickets if you've bet against them this week. The Columbus Blue Jackets aren't a good team and the lack of offense makes them tough to trust against quality teams, but they've won three of the five meetings this season against the Lightning, which includes a win on Tuesday. I'll take another shot with the Blue Jackets and the plus money.
Randy’s Pick Columbus Blue Jackets +155
AUTHOR: Randy Chambers
Mitch's Take...
