Thursday, November 21, 2024 – 7:00PM ET
Nationwide Arena, Columbus, OH
TV: FanDuel Sports Network Ohio – Radio: 97.1FM
Tampa Bay Lightning (10-6-1, 21 points, 3rd Atlantic, 7th East)
at
Columbus Blue Jackets (7-9-2, 16 points, 8th Metropolitan, 14th East)
After a successful trip to Boston that resulted in a head coach being dismissed, can the Jackets continue winning against another of the perennial playoff teams?
Player to Watch
Kent Johnson
Arguably the best Blue Jacket at the start of the season is in line to make his return from injury to the lineup. Kent Johnson has recovered quicker than expected from an upper body injury following a collision with JVR earlier in the season. It was only a four game sample, but the PP was clicking at ~28% before Johnson’s injury, and has been down at 14.6% without him, his skill set will be a welcome addition there.
Jackets Notes
2024 1st round pick Cayden Lindstrom underwent a “minimally invasive” back surgery earlier this week. The organization had hoped a patient steady approach could heal Lindstrom’s back injury, but they could only get “90%” of the way there. The lumbar discectomy performed on Lindstrom requires him to take it easy for 30 days, but Waddell is optimistic he can play for Medicine Hat before the year is over. David Jiricek and Mikael “Tuna” Pyyhtia were sent to Cleveland yesterday. There are several quotes about Jiricek not being confident with what he should be doing without the puck, and that makes a lot of sense when he plays 8 minutes every third game. Evason and Waddell are optimistic time playing in the AHL will get him back on track.
The Other Bench
The Lightning created some shock in the offseason when they decided to let their long-time captain Stamkos walk in free agency, and traded blue line staple Sergachev to the new Utah Hockey Club. Both moves were an attempt to re-open their closing contention window, and so far the plan has seemed to work. New Bolt Jake Guentzel (7-10-17) is off to a strong start and Kucherov (11-15-26) continues to show he’s one of the best players in the world. Brayden Point missed some time due to injury but returned to score the OT winner for Tampa over the Penguins on Tuesday.
Season Series
11/21/2024 – TBL at CBJ
12/17/2024 – CBJ at TBL
03/04/2025 – CBJ at TBL
Stats
| Tampa | Columbus | |
| 3.53 (7) | GPG | 3.22 (12) |
| 2.76 (11) | GAPG | 16.3% (24) |
| 18.5% (18) | PP% | 16.3% (24) |
| 78.2% (20) | PK% | 80.4% (15) |
| 51.45% (13) | 5v5 Shot Attempt % | 51.8% (11) |
| 51.46% (9) | 5v5 Unblocked Shot Attempt % | 51.72% (8) |
| 11.02% (2) | 5v5 Shooting % | 10.07 (7) |
| .921 (12) | 5v5 Save % | .894 (26) |
| Nikita Kucherov, 11 | G Leader | Monahan, Marchenko, Olivier, 6 |
| Victor Hedman, 17 | A Leader | Marchenko, Werenski, 10 |
| Nikita Kucherov, 26 | P Leader | Kirill Marchenko, 16 |
| Michael Eysimmont, 24 | PIM Leader | Matthieu Olivier, 35 |
| 4-5-0 | Home/Road | 5-3-0 |
| 6-3-1 | Last 10 | 3-6-1 |
Projected Lineups
Columbus Blue Jackets
| Dmitri Voronkov | Sean Monahan | Kirill Marchenko |
| James Van Riemsdyk | Adam Fantilli | Kent Johnson |
| Yegor Chinakhov | Cole Sillinger | Mathieu Olivier |
| Zach Aston-Reese | Sean Kuraly | Justin Danforth |
| Zach Werenski | Dante Fabro |
| Jake Christiansen | Ivan Provorov |
| Jordan Harris | Damon Severson |
| Elvis Merzlikins |
| Daniil Tarasov |
Tampa Bay Lightning
| Jake Guentzel | Brayden Point | Nikita Kucherov |
| Brandon Hagel | Anthony Cirelli | Nick Paul |
| Gage Concalves | Conor Geekie | Mitchell Chaffee |
| Zemgus Girgensons | Luke Glendening | Michael Eyssimont |
| Victor Hedman | J.J. Moser |
| Ryan McDonagh | Erik Cernak |
| Emil Lilleberg | Darren Raddysh |
| Andrei Vasilevskiy |
| Jonas Johansson |