Tampa Bay Lightning at Columbus Blue Jackets Game 3 Picks 4/14/2019

Sunday, April 14, 2019

Nationwide Arena

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Tampa Bay Lightning head to Nationwide Arena to take on the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday in Game 3 of their 1st round series. The Blue Jackets won Game 2 on Friday night 5-1 to take a 2-0 series lead back to Columbus. The opening line for this contest has the Lightning at -157 and the Blue Jackets at +120.

Tampa Bay had a record of 62-16-4 this year. They were 1st in the Atlantic Division. They've tallied 319 goals and surrendered 221 goals for a point differential of +98. For the year they have an ATS mark of 62-22-0 and an over/under record of 45-36-0. Columbus had a regular season record of 47-31-4. They were 5th in the Metropolitan Division. They have scored 256 goals and given up 231 for a goal differential of +25. Their record against the spread is 49-35-0 while their over/under mark is 32-46-0.

Valuable Tampa Bay Lightning Betting Trends

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 62-22-0 straight up this year

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 45-36-0 against the over/under this season

Important Columbus Blue Jackets Betting Trends

The Columbus Blue Jackets are 49-35-0 straight up this year

The Columbus Blue Jackets are 32-46-0 against the over/under this season

Key Tampa Bay Lightning Injuries

04/10/19 RW Ryan Callahan Undisclosed is questionable Sunday vs Columbus

Key Columbus Blue Jackets Injuries

04/06/19 D Adam McQuaid Concussion is questionable Sunday vs Tampa Bay
02/21/19 D Ryan Murray Upper Body is out indefinitely

Player Spotlight

Steven Stamkos has scored 98 total points this year for the Lightning. He has 45 goals this season with 234 shots on net, giving him a shooting percentage of 19%. He has a total of 53 assists on the year and averages 18.3 minutes played per contest. Nikita Kucherov averages 20 minutes of ice time per game this season. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 17% by tallying 41 goals on 246 attempts. He has 87 assists, giving him a total of 128 points on the year. Andrei Vasilevskiy has 39 wins and 10 losses this season in goal for the Lightning. He has 1,713 shots against him and he's surrendered 128 goals. He's made 1,585 stops for a save percentage of 93%.

Player Spotlight

Cam Atkinson has 69 total points this season for the Blue Jackets. He has 41 goals this year with 295 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 14%. He has a total of 28 assists on the year and averages 19.4 minutes played per contest. Artemi Panarin averages 19.9 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 15% by scoring 28 goals on 191 attempts. He has 59 assists, giving him a total of 87 points on the year. Sergei Bobrovsky has 37 wins and 24 losses this season in net for the Blue Jackets. He has 1,756 shots against him and he's given up 153 goals. He's made 1,603 saves for a save percentage of 91%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Lightning have 128 total points this year, which is 1st in the NHL. They've scored 319 goals while giving up 221 scores, which has them ranked 1st and 24th respectively. They have had 262 power play chances and scored 74 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 28%. That is 1st in the league. The Lightning have given up 267 power play opportunities and surrendered 40 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 85%, ranking them 1st when short-handed. They average 32 shots per contest and as a team shoot 12.18% for the year. They allow 32 shot attempts to their opposition per game and have a team save percentage of 92%, which is 3rd in the league.

Useful Team Statistics

The Blue Jackets are 13th in the league with a total of 98 points this season. They have 34 power play goals on 221 chances for a percentage of 15%. That is 28th in the NHL. They've given up 200 power play opportunities and surrendered 30 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 85%, ranking 2nd overall. As a team, the Blue Jackets are 12th with a total of 256 goals scored while they've given up 231 goals this season, ranking 21st in goals against. They average 32 shots per game and have a team shooting percentage of 9.88%. As a unit they give up 29 shots per contest and have a save percentage of 90%, putting them 18th overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Tampa Bay is 12th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 50.3%, as they've attempted 4,716 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 4,666 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage is 50.4% as they have 3,604 attempts while they have given up 3,541 shots on the defensive end. That ranks them 13th in the league. The Lightning start possessions in the offensive zone 50% of the time, which is 19th in the league, while their defensive zone percentage is at 50% for the season. That is 13th overall in the NHL. They have 2,520 face-off wins compared to 2,401 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 51.2%. That ranks them 8th in the league. On defense Tampa Bay has 2,116 hits and they have blocked 1,125 shots from the opposition, putting them 20th overall.

Advanced Statistics

The Blue Jackets are 11th in the league in starting possessions in the offensive zone, doing so 52% of the time. Their defensive zone percentage is at 48% for the season, which is 20th in the NHL. They have 2,434 face-off wins compared to 2,410 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 50.2%. That is 16th in the league. On defense Columbus has 1,741 hits and they have blocked 1,076 shots from the opposition, which is 27th in the league. Columbus is 10th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 50.9% as they've attempted 4,572 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 4,402 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage of 51.7% ranks 9th as they have 3,565 attempts while they have given up 3,326 shots on the defensive end.

Who will win tonight's Lightning/Blue Jackets NHL game against the spread?

Tony's Pick: Take Tampa Bay -157

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