Columbus Blue Jackets vs Tampa Bay Lightning Predictions, Game 2 Picks, Betting Tips 8/13/2020

Game: Columbus Blue Jackets vs Tampa Bay Lightning

Date: Thursday, August 13, 2020

Location: Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, ON

TV: NBCSN

Odds/Point Spread: Blue Jackets (+148) Lightning (-164)

Total/Over-Under: 5

Scotiabank Arena is the venue where Andrei Vasilevskiy and the Tampa Bay Lightning will take on the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday. Tampa leads the series 1-0 aftwer winning Game 1 by a score of 3-2 in 5 overtimes. The Lightning open this matchup at -164 while the Blue Jackets are priced at +148. The total has been set at 5. The Blue Jackets are covering 47.1% of the time, having gone 33-37 SU. Tampa Bay is covering 60.3% of the time, going 41-27 straight up.

The Columbus Blue Jackets head into this game holding a record of 33 victories and 22 losses, ranking them 5th in the Metropolitan Division. During the year thus far, they have converted a total of 180 goals which has them at 15th in the Eastern Conference and 27th in the league. Their goal differential is -3, ranking them 21st in the league. The Blue Jackets have earned a total of 81 points, which has them at 12th in the league and 7th in the Eastern Conference. In terms of shots toward the net, they have earned a total of 2,272 which has them at 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 game. They have earned a total of 950 blocks for this year. The man protecting the net for Columbus is Joonas Korpisalo from Winnipeg, Manitoba. He is 25 years old and has totaled 2,126 mins minding the net for the season. Korpisalo is conceding an average of 2.60 goals per contest which puts him at 10th among Eastern Conference goaltenders and 17th in the NHL among goaltenders. Over the course of this season, he's given up 92 goals. He holds a save percentage of .911 which puts him at 15th among Eastern Conference goaltenders.

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The Blue Jackets will look to rebound after their 3 - 2 loss to the Lightning in Game 1. The Blue Jackets left a lot to be desired in terms of their offense in the defeat. For the outing, they netted 2 out of the 63 shots they put on net. They also had 5 power play opportunities and scored 1 goal out of those attempts. Columbus ended up with 8 penalty mins in this outing. The Corsi for the Blue Jackets sat at 100 and the Corsi against was 174 which means they had a Corsi percentage of 36.5%. Their Fenwick was 74 and the Fenwick against sat at 114, which tells us they had a rate of 39.4%. They won 62 face-off wins and lost 58 tries to control the puck. The offensive zone starts for them came in at 59.9% and they had a PDO of 97.9 in this one. In discussing stats from the opponent, the Tampa Bay Lightning tallied 88 shots. They finished with 10 penalty mins and they earned 4 power play opportunities.

The Lightning are the team looking to add points to their total and for the year they have 43 wins and 21 defeats. Regarding goal differential, they are currently ranked 2nd in the conference and 2nd in the league with +49. They have a total of 243 goals for the season which has them at 1st in the conference. Tampa Bay has a team save percentage of .910 which has them ranked 9th in the league, meaning there should be some chances to score. They have a shooting percentage of 11.2% which puts them at 1st in the Eastern Conference. In goal for Tampa Bay is Andrei Vasilevskiy who is having an ok season by giving up 2.56 goals per contest and that places him 9th in the East and 14th in the NHL among goaltenders. In the 3,122 mins he's played this season, he has allowed 133 goals. His save percentage is .917, which places him at 7th in the East and 18th in the NHL among goaltenders.

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In Game 1 Tampa Bay had a 63.5% Corsi rating. They got to that percentage by earning a Corsi of 174 and they surrendered a Corsi of 100. Their Fenwick rate was 60.6% by earning a Fenwick of 114 and the Blue Jackets having earned a 74 Fenwick at even strength. This Corsi percentage speaks to the kind of game that Tampa Bay had and you could say that they didn't play great, but weren't awful either. They had a PDO at even strength of 102.1 and they finished this one with an oZS percentage of 40.1%. The Lightning notched 3 goals of the 88 shots on goal they were seeking. They had 4 power play attempts in this outing but weren't able to put one in the back of the net. Regarding their opponent, the Blue Jackets had 5 power play attempts and were able to tally 1 goal. Tampa Bay gave way to 63 shots on goal and the Blue Jackets earned a total of 8 penalty mins.

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

Tony's Pick: Take Columbus (+148)

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