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Tampa Bay Lightning Keep Rolling In Win Over Columbus Blue Jackets

By Lauren Burg

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4. 113. 7. 23. Final

The Tampa Bay Lightning began their three game road trip the same way they finished a perfect homestand by rolling to a 7-4 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

For the first 40 minutes, the Tampa Bay Lightning were on a mission and it showed. The final 20 wasn’t nearly as pretty, but when the horn sounded to end this game the Lightning had defeated the depleted, yet still feisty, Columbus Blue Jackets 7-4. This marks the teams fifth consecutive win.

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As we previously pointed out, the Tampa Bay Lightning were on fire to begin this game. In a sense, this was a carry-over of their strong third period against the Calgary Flames to end a perfect 4-0 homestand Thursday night.

Nearly six minutes in, J.T. Brown finally exorcised his scoring demons by tallying his first of the season to put the Bolts in front 1-0. Then, approximately 30 seconds later, Cedric Paquette scored his third NHL goal (all coming in the past couple of games) to quickly make it 2-0.

Once with the lead, the Lightning opened up a little and took more chances. It eventually paid off, with the Blue Jackets taking a penalty that Anton Stralman tipped into an open side of the net behind Columbus’ backup netminder Anton Forsberg.

Two minutes later, the Tampa Bay Lightning found themselves on another odd man rush. Brown shot the puck, then went barreling into the end boards and was down for a moment.

Meanwhile, the puck he’d originally shot had somehow found its way onto Brenden Morrow‘s stick. He in turn found Brian Boyle streaking down the left side, passed it to him and Boyle did the rest to give the Lightning a pretty comfortable 4-0 lead after 20 minutes of play.

In the middle frame, the Tampa Bay Lightning were undisciplined but resilient. An early holding call to rookie Vladislav Namestnikov gave the Blue Jackets a power play and they cashed in with ex-Philadelphia Flyer Scott Hartnell beating goaltender Evgeni Nabokov.

Fortunately for the Lightning, they had an answer. Valtteri Filppula‘s original shot caught the top of Ryan Callahan‘s skate as he stood in the crease. When a Blue Jackets player decked him, the puck popped loose and ended up over the goal line behind Curtis McElhinney, who’d been brought in to begin the second period after Forsberg’s rough start to make the score 5-1.

Another penalty, this one to Stralman, put the Blue Jackets back on the man advantage and Hartnell again made the Lightning pay to make the score 5-2.

Yet again, the Bolts came back. Using the power play as a weapon, Tyler Johnson roofed one past McElhinney to extend the lead back to four at 6-2.

The third period wasn’t nearly as good. In fact, at times it looked like the team had been cloned during the second intermission and those clones were the ones playing.

Ryan Johansen scored a minute in off the Lightning’s many turnovers and failed clearing attempts to bring them within three, and they didn’t stop pressuring. As a reward for staying patient, Nick Foligno scored on another power play about five minutes in, bringing the score to 6-4.

Thankfully, the Lightning clamped down from there. Nabokov’s key saves were huge in calming the game down, which reinforces the reason we signed him to back up Ben Bishop this past offseason. He thwarted all the rest of the Blue Jackets opportunities and things remained quiet up until they pulled McElhinney.

At that point, the Lightning hounded the puck carrier and severely hindered any scoring chances they could’ve had. Instead, Johnson stole the puck at center ice and easily scored an empty net goal, drawing the ire of Hartnell and a few of his teammates who body-slammed a happy Johnson into the boards.

It drew a large gathering and some penalties were called, but the way Hartnell went after Johnson for no real reason might be worth a second look, with a suspension or fine possible. Then again, the NHL never does anything to benefit the Lightning so why would they start now?

Was this game mistake-free? Not by a long shot. Were the Lightning caught looking ahead to tomorrow night’s game at times? Yes, I do believe they were. However, tonight’s win showed they’re able to reel in the emotions and focus on the task at hand before the lead’s gone.

Do the Lightning need to work on staying focused for a full 60 minutes? No doubt, as some of these mental breakdowns have cost them points in the standings. A win’s a win though, and that’s all that matters when it comes down to the end of the season. Style points mean nothing in the NHL, but victories could be the difference between a playoff berth or a tee time come April.

If the Bolts can keep mental errors to a minimum, they have the possibility of rolling to a lot more wins on this current road trip and beyond.

What are your thoughts regarding the Tampa Bay Lightning’s 7-4 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets? Do you think the Lightning can remain undefeated for a while longer? Who’s impressed you the most these past five games? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

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