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David Bastl
Lightning vs. Blue Jackets Game 3 Prediction: NHL Playoffs Betting Odds
My have the tables turned in this series. The President’s Trophy winning Lightning, who had 30 more points than the Blue Jackets during the regular season, and were a -588 favourite to win the series, are now looking at a 0-2 deficient and in a tight situation on the road in Columbus Sunday evening.
Lightning vs Blue Jackets Stanley Cup Playoffs Betting Analysis
Lots of intrigue in this series, the Lightning now have to win four of their next five games to take the series, and the Blue Jackets have to play well on home ice, something they have done quite well on the road. Columbus was 22-17-2.
The Lightning swept the three game regular season series for the Blue Jackets in convincing fashion, outscoring them 17-3 in the trio of games. The Bolts also enter this game on a six-game winning streak against the Jackets.
At Sports Interaction, the Blue Jackets are now the favourites to win the series at -189, while the Lightning come in at +150 to comeback to win the series. Are you feeling lucky? If the Lightning win the next four games to win the series, it pays +452.
Of note, the Lightning are 6-1 in their last seven games in Ohio.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Head Coach Jon Cooper may have said it best when he said the Lightning are now involved in a “five alarm fire” after losing both of their games on home ice. The NHL’s best regular season team is in a mess going into game three. The news didn’t get any better for the organization on an off-day Saturday as the NHL handed down a one game suspension to Nikita Kucherov for his hit on Markus Nutivaara near the end of game two. The league’s leading scorer and likely Hart trophy winner has yet to register a point this series.
Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, who is the favourite to win the Vezina trophy, has struggled in the Bolts net, allowing nine goals on 53 shots through the first two games. His save percentage during the regular season was .925, in these playoffs it has dipped to .830.
Of note, Steven Stamkos is also still search for his first points of this series. During the regular season he hit a career high of 98 points.
Columbus Blue Jackets
The Columbus Blue Jackets are playing with house money, or at least that’s what it seems like. No one thought they would be in this current position, heading home with a 2-0 series lead. One of the big reasons was the play of Matt Duchene in game two. The shifty Centre registered a four-point evening (one goal, three assists) and was the best player on the ice.
Defenceman Zach Werenski and forward Artemi Panarin each have three points in two games.
Finally, in the battle of the best two Russian goaltenders in the world, Sergei Bobrovsky has a pair of victories and an impressive save percentage of .925.
