Columbus Blue Jackets vs Tampa Bay Lightning Predictions, Picks, Betting Tips 8/19/2020

Game: Columbus Blue Jackets vs Tampa Bay Lightning

Date: Wednesday, August 19, 2020

Location: Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, ON

TV: NBCSN

Odds/Point Spread: Blue Jackets (+149) Lightning (-185)

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 Wednesday in Game 5 of their series. Tampa leads the series 3-1. The Lightning open this contest at -185 while the Blue Jackets are priced at +149. The O/U is set at 5.5. 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 Blue Jackets will be looking to rebound in Game 5 after their 2 - 1 defeat to the Lightning in Game 4. The Blue Jackets had an offensive game that was below their expectations in this loss. In the matchup, they finished 1 out of the 29 shots they put on net. In addition, they had 2 power play opportunities but weren't able to score a goal. Columbus ended up with 8 penalty minutes for this outing. The Corsi for the Blue Jackets was 45 and the Corsi against was 40 which tells us they had a Corsi percentage of 52.9%. Their Fenwick sat at 36 and the Fenwick against was 26, meaning they had a rate of 58.1%. They earned 25 face-off wins at even strength and lost 11 tries to control the puck. Their offensive zone starts came in at 33.8% and they had a PDO of 91.2 for this one. Regarding their opponent, the Tampa Bay Lightning tallied a total of 22 shots. They finished with a total of 6 penalty mins and they tallied 3 power play chances.

The Columbus Blue Jackets head into this game holding a record of 33 wins and 22 losses, which is good for 5th in the Metropolitan Division. Thus far in the season, they have earned a total of 180 goals which ranks 15th in the Eastern Conference and 27th in the league. Their goal differential is -3, which is good for 21st in the league. The Blue Jackets currently have a total of 81 pts, which ranks 12th in the league and 7th in the conference. In connection with shots at the opposing goalie, they currently have a total of 2,272 which ranks 3rd in the conference and 6th in the league. As a team, Columbus currently has a total of 1,372 hits which means they have an average of 19.6 per game. They currently have a total of 950 blocks for the year. The goaltender 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 surrendering 2.60 goals per contest which has him ranked 10th among Eastern Conference goaltenders and 17th in the NHL among goaltenders. So far this season, he has given up 92 goals. His save % is .911 which has him ranked 15th among Eastern Conference goaltenders.

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In Game 4 Tampa Bay earned a 47.1% Corsi rating. That percentage was had by having a Corsi of 40 while they allowed a Corsi of 45. Their Fenwick rate came in at 41.9% by way of having a Fenwick of 26 and the Blue Jackets ending the game with a 36 Fenwick at even strength. These Corsi stats tell us the story of the kind of game Tampa Bay played and we'd say it was a below average outing in all. Their PDO was 108.8 and their oZS percentage was 66.2%. The Lightning converted 2 goals of the 22 shots on goal they attempted. They had 3 power play attempts in this outing but were not able to net one. Concerning the opposition, the Blue Jackets had 2 power play attempts but didn't tally a goal. Tampa Bay conceded 29 shots on goal and the Blue Jackets ended up with a total of 8 penalty minutes.

The Lightning will be on the other side of the ice and for the season they have 43 wins and 21 defeats. When discussing goal differential, they rank 2nd in the Eastern Conference and 2nd in the NHL with +49. They have a total of 243 goals for the year which has them ranked at 1st in the East. Tampa Bay has a save % as a team of .910 which is good for 9th in the NHL, meaning there should be some opportunities 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 a marginal year by surrendering 2.56 goals per contest and that has him 9th in the East and 14th among goaltenders in the NHL. In the 3,122 minutes he has been on the ice this season, he's given up 133 goals. His save percentage is .917, which has him ranking 7th in the East and 18th among goaltenders in the NHL.

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

Tony's Pick: Take Columbus (+149)

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