The Tampa Bay Lightning and Columbus Blue Jackets play Game 3 of their First-Round series Saturday at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m. ET. Below, we look at the Lightning-Blue Jackets betting odds and lines and make our NHL picks and best bets.
Lightning vs. Blue Jackets: Projected starting goalies
Andrei Vasilevskiy vs. Joonas Korpisalo
Vasilevskiy has been good, but not great, through the first two games of this series. The Vezina Trophy candidate has stopped 80 of the 85 shots he has faced. He now has a .931 save percentage and 1.84 goals against average through five postseason games, including the qualification round.
The 26-year-old Korpisalo has been the star of the first round of these Stanley Cup Playoffs. He has stopped all but four of the 125 shots on goal he has faced through 10-plus periods of hockey.
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Lightning vs. Blue Jackets: Odds, picks and betting tips
Odds courtesy of BetMGM; access them at USA TODAY Sports for a full list. Odds last updated at 11:11 a.m. ET.
Prediction
Lightning 3, Blue Jackets 1
Moneyline (ML)
The teams have split the first two games of the series. The LIGHTNING (-176) won Game 1, 3-2, in quintuple overtime and the Blue Jackets (+150) won Game 2, 3-1.
Tampa Bay has been dominating the shot counts and the analytics battle by registering 62.5% of the total shot attempts through two games. They’ll get Korpisalo to crack sooner than later, even with captain C Steven Stamkos still sidelined by a lower-body injury.
New to sports betting? A $17.60 bet on the Lightning to win would return a profit of $10.
Puck Line/Against the Spread (ATS)
The LIGHTNING -1.5 (+165) can also be taken on the puck line to win by 2 or more goals. It may require a late empty-netter but it’s the much more profitable bet and Korpisalo is the main reason this series is tied. Once the Lightning solve him, the goals could come in a flurry.
Over/Under (O/U)
The UNDER 5 (+115) remains the best bet in every game of this series. The first two games have seen a total of just nine goals scored and the Lightning haven’t been involved in a game with more than five goals scored since the start of the Eastern Conference round-robin tournament.
There’s a threat of a push here, but the return is far more profitable than the Under 5.5 (-154).
Esten’s NHL betting record: 36-28
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