Lightning Set For a Resurgence vs Blue Jackets

The pressure is back on the Tampa Bay Lightning as they look to gain a series lead over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday in Game 3 of their Stanley Cup round-of-16 series in Toronto. The Blue Jackets overcame a soul-crushing five-overtime loss in Game 1 to stifle Tampa Bay's sensational offense in a 3-1 victory, evening the best-of-seven with the favored Lightning at a game apiece.

Sportsbook Odds Analysis

Tampa Bay is still the apple of oddsmakers' eyes, Sportsbook as a -175 favorite; that line has risen to -180 in some spots. The total remains at 5, with the OVER at -135 and the UNDER at +115.

Tampa Bay News & Notes

If the Lightning want to avoid being on the wrong end of a Columbus first-round upset for the second year in a row, they'll need to figure out what's wrong on offense. Tampa Bay enters Game 3 having scored just five goals over its previous three games, though Columbus netminder Joonas Korpisalo has been a major foil for the Lightning with 121 saves on 125 shots in two games.

The key will be getting more high-quality scoring chances after finishing with a 37-22 shots advantage in Game 2 but coming away with just one goal. The Blue Jackets kept the Lightning out of the slot for the majority of the game while blocking another 21 shot attempts; Tampa Bay averaged a league-best 3.89 goals per game on just 32 shots per contest during the regular season.

Columbus News & Notes

Few could have predicted that the Blue Jackets would actually own the edge on special teams through the first two games of their best-of-seven. Despite going 0-for-14 in its postseason qualification series vs Toronto, Columbus has scored power-play goals in two straight vs. the Lightning while holding Tampa Bay without a man-advantage tally to this point in the series.

But it'll take continued improvement on offense for Columbus to finish off a Tampa Bay team that has deserved a much better fate from a shots and chances perspective. The Blue Jackets are averaging a mediocre 2.43 goals per game so far in the playoffs and are allowing an average of 10 shots more than they're generating per game to date (44.9 to 34.9).

Betting Pick: OVER 5

Tampa Bay was the league's most prolific team during the regular season, and has had a ton of close calls so far in the season. A similar effort Saturday should yield better results – and a rare OVER.