The Tampa Bay Lightning and Columbus Blue Jackets meet Thursday in NHL action from Nationwide Arena. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here is a Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Columbus Blue Jackets prediction.

Tampa Bay Lightning Recap

The Tampa Bay Lightning come into this looking to build on their three-game win streak after a 3-2 OT win over Pittsburgh last time out. After this game, Tampa Bay heads home for a game against Dallas.

Lightning seeks 4^e Straight W

Nikita Kucherov leads the Bolts with 26 points, including 11 goals and 15 assists, while Brandon Hagel has 17 points with 8 goals and 9 assists and Anthony Cirelli himself has 17 points with 12 assists. Brayden Point has 15 points with 10 goals and 5 assists, while Victor Hedman has 17 points with 13 assists. Jake Guentzel also has 17 points with 7 goals and 10 assists. Andrei Vasilevskiy has gone 9-5-1 with a 2.13 GAA and a .919 save percentage, while Jonas Johansson has gone 1-1 with a 4.51 GAA and an .866 save percentage on the year in goal for Tampa Bay.

Why the Tampa Bay Lightning will win

• The Blue Jackets have lost 10 of their last 11 evening games after a road win.
• The Lightning have won 10 of their last 12 games against the Blue Jackets.
• The favorites have covered the puck line in five of the last six games between the Lightning and Blue Jackets.
• The Blue Jackets have failed to cover the puck line in seven of their last nine games.

Columbus Blue Jackets Summary

The Columbus Blue Jackets come into this game looking to build on a 5-1 win over the Boston Bruins last time out. After this game, the Blue Jackets welcome the Carolina Hurricanes to town.

Blue Jackets looking for consistency

Kirill Marchenko leads the Blue Jackets in scoring with 16 points, including 6 goals and a team-high 10 assists, while Sean Monahan has 15 points with a team-high 6 goals and 9 assists. Zach Werenski has 14 points with 4 goals and 10 assists, while Yegor Chinakhov has 12 points with 5 goals and 7 assists. Cole Sillinger also has 10 points with 7 assists, while Kevin Labanc has 10 points with 9 assists. Daniil Tarasov is 3-4-1 with a 4.04 GAA and an .861 save percentage, while Elvis Merzlikins is 4-5-1 with a 2.72 GAA and a .905 save percentage between the pipes this season for Columbus.

Why the Columbus Blue Jackets will win

• The Blue Jackets have won each of their last four games as home underdogs against Eastern Conference opponents.
• The Lightning have lost five of their last seven games as road favorites after a road win.
• The Blue Jackets have covered the puck line in each of their last seven home games against Eastern Conference opponents.
• The Lightning have failed to cover the puck line in any of their last four road games.

Lightning vs. Blue Jackets Prediction

I’m here on the Lightning. The Blue Jackets are a lot easier to tolerate when playing at home, but the Lightning are still the better team across the board with more reliable goaltending, and Tampa Bay’s had recent success between these two teams as well. Give me lightning.