Tampa Bay Lightning vs Columbus Blue Jackets Prediction, 4/8/2021 NHL Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Tampa Bay Lightning vs Columbus Blue Jackets

Date: Thursday, April 8, 2021

Location: Nationwide Arena in Columbus, OH

TV: Bally Sports Ohio

Odds/Point Spread: Lightning (-188) Blue Jackets (+155)

Nationwide Arena is the site where Joonas Korpisalo and the Columbus Blue Jackets (15-18-8) will take on the Tampa Bay Lightning (26-11-2) on Thursday. The Lightning open this matchup at -188 while the Blue Jackets are coming in at +155. The over/under has been set at 5.5.

The Lightning will need a bounce back game after taking a 4-2 defeat against the Blue Jackets in the last game they played. The Corsi for the Lightning came in at 50 and the Corsi against at the end of this game was 31 which means they had a Corsi rate of 61.7%. Their starts in the offensive zone sat at 72.6% and they had a PDO of 93.6 for this one. Tampa Bay earned 8 penalty mins for this matchup. The Lightning could have played much better offensively in this defeat. Their Fenwick came in at 38 and the Fenwick Against sat at 27, meaning the had a Fenwick percentage of 58.5%. They accounted for 25 face-off wins at even strength and lost on 24 opportunities to win the puck. Moreover, they had 4 chances with extra men on the ice but didn't convert them into a score. For the game, they converted 2 of the 38 shots they tried.

The Lightning have had 1,093 shots taken against them and are the owners of a save percentage of .912. While at even strength, the Lightning let the opposition score 72 goals while notching 99 themselves. Tampa Bay Lightning opponents have recorded 131 power play opportunities (1st in professional hockey) and have racked up 24 goals in those attempts. For the year, they have recorded 54 points and their points percentage is sitting at .692. Tampa Bay has taken 1,191 shots and is the owner of a shooting percentage of 11.0%. In relation to scoring goals, the Tampa Bay Lightning have racked up 131 goals (3rd in hockey) so far this season and have allowed 96. Tampa Bay has tallied 126 power play chances and they have added 32 goals out of those tries, giving them a percentage of 25.40%.

The player in the crease for this game is Andrei Vasilevskiy. Opponents have notched 703 goals versus Vasilevskiy in his pro hockey career and his goals against average per game is 2.49. Vasilevskiy has been in net for 290 games during his NHL career. His save percentage sits at .920 in his 16,908 minutes on the ice. He has compiled an overall mark of 182-79-19 and he was named the starter in 280 games. In his career, Vasilevskiy has accumulated 158 quality starts and his rate for quality starts is .564. Vasilevskiy has seen 8,799 shots against him and has garnered 8,096 total saves.

In their win over Tampa, Columbus had a PDO of 106 and they had an oZS percentage of 27.6%. They had 5 attempts on the power play in this matchup and scored 1 out of those chances. Their Fenwick rate came in at 41.5% by earning a Fenwick of 27 and the Lightning having accrued a 38 Fenwick at even strength. The Blue Jackets tallied 4 goals out of the 30 shots on goal they were seeking. Columbus earned a 38.3% Corsi rating. This Corsi rating is telling of the kind of game that Columbus played and we'd say they played well overall.

Columbus has taken 1,189 shots (9th in the league) and has a shot percentage of 8.41%, while allowing the other team 1,309 shots. They have a penalty kill rate of 78.13% on their opponents 96 power play tries, and their save percentage sits at 90.2%. They have earned 97 opportunities on the power play and they have accumulated a power play percentage of 14.43%. The Blue Jackets have racked up 86 goals at even strength and 14 goals (28th in the league) while on the power play. They have allowed 128 goals to be scored by way of 107 goals at even strength and 21 goals while they were shorthanded. This season, the Columbus Blue Jackets have notched a total of 100 goals, 38 points, as well as a points percentage of .463.

Across the ice you will find Joonas Korpisalo protecting the goal. He has accrued 3,994 saves out of 4,404 shots taken against him, giving him a save % of .907. Korpisalo is sitting with a career record of 69-54-20 and has played in 155 games. He got the starting nod in 142 games and has been on the ice for 8,674 minutes. Korpisalo's percentage of quality starts comes out to 50.0% and he has 71 quality starts in his career. Teams are averaging 2.84 goals/game and he has conceded 410 goals altogether.

Who will win tonight's NHL game ATS?

Josh's Pick: Take Columbus (+155)

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