The Tampa Bay Lightning clinched a playoff spot with a recent hot streak. They have won four straight games and six out of their last seven overall entering Thursday’s game at the Columbus Blue Jackets.
They posted wins over the Florida Panthers, Nashville Predators and Toronto Maple Leafs before defeating the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-1 on Tuesday.
Trying to wrap up third place in the Atlantic Division with one win in their last two games, the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions have a rematch with the Blue Jackets, who are eliminated from the postseason this year.
Columbus has lost four of their last five games and 13 of their last 17. Can they surprise here as an underdog on the NHL odds? Let’s check the latest NHL lines, stats, injury reports, and NHL odds for Lightning vs Blue Jackets. We’ve plenty of NHL picks and predictions.
Lightning Offense on Fire
This Tampa Bay offense is looking unstoppable right now. Dating to April 16, the Lightning have had scoring games of seven, three, eight, six, eight and four.
They have only scored under four goals once and they still ended up knocking in three of them.
Steven Stamkos is a big reason for that. He leads the team with 101 points, nearly 20 in front of No. 2 scorer Victor Hedman (82).
We also can’t forget that Nikita Kucherov has only played in 45 games yet has 66 points. It will take a lot to slow down this ridiculously hot offense.
Blue Jackets Struggling to Protect Net
Ironically, Columbus has had severe trouble protecting the net, so those who bet online should recognize this is a bad matchup for the Blue Jackets. This usually doesn’t end well when going up against an offense like the Lightning.
The Blue Jackets are ranked 28th in the league in goals allowed per game at 3.63 and they really don’t have a goaltender that stands above the rest.
Elvis Merzlikins has a 26-22-7 record and a .906 save percentage. Backup Joonas Korpisalo is 7-11-0 with a .877 save percentage.
Lightning vs Blue Jackets Head-to-Head
The Lightning won both matchups against the Blue Jackets, 7-2 and 4-1.
Lightning vs Blue Jackets Game Information
Game: Lightning (50-22-8) vs Blue Jackets (36-37-7)
The total for this game is sitting at 6½ goals in the sportsbook. With the way that each of these teams have played lately, the over looks like a slam dunk.
The Lightning themselves have broken that total in four of their last six games out. Couple that electric scoring with the Blue Jackets’ inability to consistently protect the net and this will instantly be a high-scoring affair by at least one team.
Take the over with some confidence for your NHL picks here.
Derrick Erickson has been entrenched in sports media over the last decade. From working in fantasy sports to the sports betting side of things, he's been plugged in for quite some time. His favorite teams include the Texas Longhorns, Dallas Cowboys, and Dallas Mavericks.
