Lightning vs Blue Jackets Picks and Predictions: Goaltender's Stellar Play Equals Offensive Struggles

The Columbus Blue Jackets had a rough go in their season opener, not only losing 4-1, but also watching their star forward, Patrik Laine, sustain an upper-body injury. 

The Tampa Bay Lightning didn’t have an ideal season opener either, falling 3-1 to the Rangers. Tampa didn’t play poorly, it just had a hard time trying to solve Igor Shesterkin. 

With no Laine in the lineup, will Tampa be able to take advantage of Columbus' injuries and spoil its home opener? Find out in our NHL betting picks and predictions for Lightning vs. Blue Jackets.

Lightning vs Blue Jackets best odds

Lightning vs Blue Jackets picks and predictions

When you take Patrik Laine out of the mix, the Columbus Blue Jackets' offense becomes much less of a threat. Out of the 20 teams that have played thus far throughout the league, the Jackets already rank 17th in high-danger scoring chances.

Their offense wasn’t able to generate much in their first game against Carolina as they only had eight high-danger chances, and they might have some similar struggles against a very strong Tampa Bay Lightning team. 

Tampa Bay has a ton of talent up front, but it struggled as well in its first game to generate scoring chances. The Bolts had a 1.46 xGF in their only game and just nine high-danger chances. 

The Lightning have the best goalie in the world in Andrei Vasilevskiy, who despite losing his first game, still made 36 saves on 39 shots (923 SV%). I am not very worried about Tampa allowing many goals against a weak offensive opponent in Columbus. 

The Blue Jackets are starting Daniil Tarasov since Elvis Merzlikins and Joonas Korpisalo are both injured, although there is a small chance that Merzlikins makes his debut. Tarasov had a strong game against the Carolina Hurricanes, making 39 saves on 43 shots for a .907 SV%. 

Both of these offenses didn’t show much in their previous games and the goalies were both very strong. I think the 6.5 total might be a little too high for these netminders so I am going to take the Under here. 

My best bet: Under 6.5 (-115 at DraftKings)

Lightning vs Blue Jackets moneyline analysis

The Lightning are a much better team than the Blue Jackets, but Columbus will definitely be fired up to be in front of its home crowd for the first time this season. 

Tampa took two out of the three meetings last season between these two teams, including a whopping 7-2 victory in Columbus. At the end of the day, the goaltending battle gives the Lightning a massive advantage in this contest. Vasilevskiy has been the best goalie in the league for years now and it is rare that he loses multiple games in a row — the Lightning always respond well after a loss. 

I’m going to need to see more from this Blue Jackets team before I feel confident enough in them to beat a team as strong as Tampa. Missing Laine is going to have a huge impact on how it performs offensively and that will be noticeable. 

I think Tampa wins this one with no problem.

Lightning vs Blue Jackets Over/Under analysis

As I mentioned previously, both offenses struggled in the team's first game as they had a combined two goals total. I don’t see the Jackets scoring more than twice on Andrei Vasilevskiy with what they have on their roster at the moment. 

The Bolts might be able to get themselves going and generate more chances than they did in their first game of the season, but Columbus is solid enough on the blue line to not let it get out of hand. 

Both goalies were impressive in their first start and they have each gotten a little bit of rest so I don’t expect much rust in the blue paint. I think 6.5 is just a little too high here, I love the Under. 

Lightning vs Blue Jackets betting trend to know

The Under is 4-0 in the Lightning’s last four games. Find more NHL betting trends for Lightning vs Blue Jackets.

Lightning vs Blue Jackets game info

Lightning vs Blue Jackets key injuries

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