The Tampa Bay Lightning look to put away the Columbus Blue Jackets in Game 5 of the best-of-seven Eastern Conference Quarterfinals series Wednesday at noon ET at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. We analyze the Blue Jackets-Lightning NHL betting odds and lines, with picks and best bets.
Blue Jackets vs. Lightning: Projected starting goalies
Joonas Korpisalo vs. Andrei Vasilevskiy
The Blue Jackets find themselves down 3-1 in this series, but it’s no fault of Korpisalo. He has acquitted himself well in his first series as a playoff starter, going 1-3 with a 1.65 goals against average and .950 save percentage across his four starts in this series. Unfortunately for Korpisalo, he has received just 2.0 goals of offensive support. The margin of error has been razor thin in this series, and all three losses, including a Game 1 loss in five overtimes, have been by one goal.
Vasilevskiy has pushed the Jackets to the brink of elimination, as the Lightning look to exact a little revenge for last season’s stunning first-round loss. The Vezina Trophy candidate is 3-1 with a 1.47 GAA and .939 SV%. This is what we expected of Vasilevskiy and the Lightning last season, and they’re looking the part of championship contender this time around.
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Blue Jackets vs. Lightning: Odds, picks and betting tips
Odds courtesy of BetMGM; access them at USA TODAY Sports for a full list. Odds last updated at 5:55 a.m. ET.
Prediction
Lightning 2, Blue Jackets 1
Moneyline (ML)
The LIGHTNING (-176) are only worth a small-unit play, as the juice here is a little past my limit. For a better value, it might be best to take the LIGHTING (-110) to win on the 3-way line. However, if you choose the latter, they must win without the game going to overtime.
New to sports betting? A winning $10 bet on the Lightning returns a net profit of $5.68, while a $10 play on the Lightning to win in regular time posts a profit of $9.09.
Puck Line/Against the Spread (ATS)
This will be a defensive slog with plenty of hitting, tight checking and few scoring chances. The Lightning (-1.5, +165) are tempting at this price, but all three of their wins in this series have been by one goal. The Blue Jackets (+1.5, -200) are just too expensive, as you cannot risk twice as much as your potential return. AVOID.
Over/Under (O/U)
UNDER 5 (+100) is the play, but go lightly. I have made it perfectly clear that I am not a fan of betting the under on flat-five lines, but buying the half-goal and going up to Under 5.5 (-176) is just too much juice.
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