The Tampa Bay Lightning used their league-best power play along with a 32-save performance from Andrei Vasilevskiy to beat the Blue Jackets 4-2 on Saturday at Nationwide Arena.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BLUE JACKETS | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| TB LIGHTNING | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
1st Period
The Lightning entered the game with a power play that converted at 30% and opened the scoring with a power-play goal by Nick Paul, who went top shelf from the low slot off a rebound from Brandon Hagel's left-circle shot at 15:40.
Right place, right time pic.twitter.com/xrqT5KNDDy
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) February 11, 2024
Tampa Bay took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission and a 13-9 advantage in shots on goal.
2nd Period
After both Damon Severson and Ivan Provorov jumped up into the play in the offensive zone and neutral zone, respectively, Hagel found Anthony Cirelli with a great pass, leading to Cirelli's breakaway goal at 0:49.
The Blue Jackets had a great chance to cut their lead at 13:45 when Sean Kuraly hit the side of the net on a point-blank opportunity from the right doorstep and then Zach Werenski's backhand shot from the slot was gloved by Vasilevskiy.
At 19:50, Severson fought Darren Raddysh after Raddysh cross-checked Johnny Gaudreau in the left corner of the Lightning zone and dragged him down to the ice. Severson was assessed an extra cross-checking minor on top of the matching fighting majors.
Tampa Bay led Columbus 2-0 after two periods and took a 24-23 advantage in shots on goal into the third period.
3rd Period
Steven Stamkos scored on the power play stemming from the Severson-Raddysh fight with a left-circle slap-shot that snuck through Elvis Merzlikins' five-hole at 0:23.
The Captain does it pic.twitter.com/57t5KIoGdO
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) February 11, 2024
Boone Jenner put the Jackets on the board with his 14th of the season at 12:22 when he finished off a tremendous pass from Johnny Gaudreau at the doorstep.
Blue Jackets are on the board!#CBJ pic.twitter.com/ow2lXxxCL8
— Bally Sports Columbus (@BallySportsCBUS) February 11, 2024
Jenner scored again from nearly the same spot thanks to a great feed from Gaudreau on the power play at 15:50 to cut the deficit to one.
Boone Jenner with an assist from Johnny Hockey!#CBJ pic.twitter.com/XqbG0oIAji
— Bally Sports Columbus (@BallySportsCBUS) February 11, 2024
Hagel scored an empty-net goal at 19:12 to seal the victory for Tampa Bay.
With the loss, the Blue Jackets fell to 16-25-10.
Stats
- Shots on Goal: TBL 22-21 CBJ
- Face-off %: TBL 48.9-51.1 CBJ
- Power play: TBL 0/2-0/3 CBJ
- Giveaways: TBL 8-10 CBJ
- Takeaways: TBL 5-7 CBJ
- Blocked shots: TBL 17-16 CBJ
- Hits: TBL 14-16 CBJ
-
5-on-5 stats (via naturalstattrick.com):
- Expected Goals (xG): TBL 2.60-3.02 CBJ
- Shot Attempts (CF): TBL 54-52 CBJ
- Shots on Goal (SF): TBL 29-26 CBJ
- Scoring Chances (SCF): TBL 26-32 CBJ
- High-Danger Chances (HDCF): TBL 13-15 CBJ
Injury Update
- Yegor Chinakhov suffered an upper-body injury in the second period of the game and did not return.
- Patrik Laine entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program and will be away from the team indefinitely.
- Adam Boqvist returned to action after a three-game absence due to an upper-body injury he suffered on Jan. 25.
- Adam Fantilli suffered a calf laceration on Jan. 28 and is expected to miss eight weeks.
Next Up
The Blue Jackets kick off their five-game road trip when they face the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET on Bally Sports Ohio.
The club will head west to take on the San Jose Sharks on Feb. 17 at 10:30 p.m. ET on Bally Sports Ohio.
