Columbus Blue Jackets vs Tampa Bay Lightning Predictions, Game 1 Picks, Betting Tips 8/11/2020

Game: Columbus Blue Jackets vs Tampa Bay Lightning

Date: Tuesday, August 11, 2020

Location: Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, ON

TV: NBCSN

Odds/Point Spread: Blue Jackets (+165) Lightning (-190)

Total/Over-Under: 5.5

Scotiabank Arena is the site where Andrei Vasilevskiy and the Tampa Bay Lightning will play the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday in Game 1 of their series. The Blue Jackets open this contest at +165 while the Lightning are priced at -190. The O/U opens at 5.5. The Blue Jackets are covering 47.1% of the time, having gone 33-37 SU. The Lightning are covering 60.3% of the time, going 41-27 straight up.

The Columbus Blue Jackets head into this game holding a record of 33 wins and 22 losses, ranking them 5th in the Metropolitan Division. So far this season, they have racked up a total of 180 goals which is 15th in the Eastern Conference and 27th in the league. Their goal differential is -3, ranking them 21st in the league. The Blue Jackets currently have a total of 81 pts, which is 12th in the league and 7th in the conference. Regarding shots on goal, they currently have a total of 2,272 which is 3rd in the East and 6th in the league. As a group, Columbus has compiled a total of 1,372 hits which has them averaging 19.6 per contest. They currently have a total of 950 blocks for the season. The man looking after the goal for Columbus is Joonas Korpisalo from Winnipeg, Manitoba. He is 25 years old and has played a total of 2,126 mins defending the goal this year. Korpisalo is allowing 2.60 goals per game which ranks him 10th among East goalies and 17th in the NHL. For the season, he has surrendered 92 goals. He has a save percentage of .911 which ranks him 15th among East goalies.

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The Blue Jackets were on the winning side of the scoreboard with a 3 - 0 victory against the Maple Leafs in their last game. The Blue Jackets had an average offensive performance in this win. In the outing, they finished 3 of the 22 shots they attempted. In addition, they had 2 power play opportunities but weren't able to score. Columbus racked up a total of 2 penalty mins in their game. The Corsi for the Blue Jackets was 42 and the Corsi against at even strength was 54 which tells us they had a Corsi percentage of 43.8%. Their Fenwick sat at 27 while the Fenwick against was 40, which tells us they had a Fenwick percentage of 40.3%. They took 18 face-off wins at even strength and lost 20 attempts to control the puck. The offensive zone starts for them came in at 73.1% and they had a PDO at even strength of 114.3 for this one. Concerning opponent stats, the Toronto Maple Leafs earned 33 shots. They had a total of 4 penalty mins and they earned 1 power play attempt.

The Lightning will be on the other side of the ice and for the campaign they have 43 victories and 21 defeats. In the matter of goal differential, they are currently sitting 2nd in the Eastern Conference and 2nd in the league with +49. They have compiled a total of 243 goals for this year which ranks 1st in the East. Tampa Bay has a save % as a team of .910 which has them ranked 9th in the league, meaning there should be some chances to score. They have a team shooting percentage of 11.2% putting them at 1st in the conference. In net for Tampa Bay is Andrei Vasilevskiy who is having an ok season by giving up 2.56 goals per game and that has him 9th among East goalies and 14th in the NHL. In the 3,122 mins he's been on the ice this season, he has surrendered 133 goals. He has a save % of .917, which has him ranking 7th among East goalies and 18th in the NHL.

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The Lightning opposed the Flyers in a matchup where the Lightning were on the wrong end of the score by a tally of 4 - 1 their last time out. For this outing, Tampa Bay earned a 54.8% Corsi rating. They wound up with that percentage by having a Corsi of 51 while they surrendered a Corsi of 42. Their Fenwick percentage came in at 49.2% with a Fenwick of 31 and the Flyers ending the game with a 32 Fenwick. This Corsi percentage speaks to the kind of game that Tampa Bay had and the stats tell us that they didn't play well overall. Their PDO at even strength was 85.2 and their oZS percentage was 56.0%. The Lightning notched 1 goal of the 24 shots on goal they attempted. They had 3 power play chances in this one and were able to notch 1 of those chances. Regarding the opposition, the Flyers had 3 power play chances but were not able to notch a goal. Tampa Bay gave up 30 shots on goal and the Flyers had 6 minutes in the box.

Who will win tonight's NHL game against the spread?

Tony's Pick: Take Columbus (+165)

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