Free Picks: Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Columbus Blue Jackets

It’s about to get a whole lot worse for the Blue Jackets. Losers of 8 straight, Columbus will take on the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday. The Lightning are hot as of late and look to damage Columbus even further. In this article, I take a look at two potential betting options for this contest, both of which I am tremendously confident in.

Hailed as a potential Stanley Cup contender, the Columbus Blue Jackets have since fallen off the face of the hockey world. With the whole Pierre-Luc Dubois debacle to the potential firing of John Tortorella at seasons’ end, 2021 is a dark spot on the organization.

Sunday won’t be much better as the Blue Jackets take on the Tampa Bay Lightning. While the Lightning are not at the top of the leaderboards, they are still considered a true Stanley Cup favorite. As defending champions, everyone has their sights set on Tampa Bay and for the most part, the Lightning have held strong.

Entering this game, the Blue Jackets have lost 8 straight and I see that trend continuing in this one. It might be a rather safe pick, but I think taking Tampa Bay straight up will be your best NHL bet for this contest.

I routinely favor the over in total goals on BetPicks, but I am worried about Columbus’ production for the total goals to cash.

This NHL prediction could swing in two different directions, honestly. I would be comfortable taking the over in home team goals (Tampa Bay) as well. The line is 3.5 at +100 provides low risk, I think. The Blue Jackets have been terrible in their own end as of late. With Tampa Bay owning one of the best offenses in the NHL, I could easily see Tampa Bay potting 4 or 5 against Columbus.

If you want to play it safe, I recommend taking the Tampa Bay ML. But if you want to be a little risky, I would also recommend taking the over in home team goals as an alternate bet.

Tampa Bay is stronger on both ends of the ice, which makes me confident for this BetPicks prediction. In their last meeting, Tampa Bay netted 3 against Columbus. I think they will hover around that goal mark as well. If they score 4 on Sunday, the over in home team goals will cash as well.

• Tampa Bay are 4-3 against Columbus SU this season.
• The Lightning have won 3 of their last 5 regular season games.
• Columbus has not score more than 2 goals in 5 straight games.
• The Blue Jackets are 7-17-2 on the road this season.