How would the Jackets follow up their performance in the Horseshoe?
First Period
Disastrous start to this one with Tampa Bay scoring on their first two shots. First, the Lightning third line struck when a Lilleberg point shot was deflected by Chaffee and through Elvis.
TBL Goal 0-1 Chaffee (Lilleberg, Raddysh) 0:30
Not long after, a Mateychuk shot missed the net and was gathered by Guentzel on the half-wall. He found Kucherov alone behind the D who beat Elvis.
TBL Goal 0-2 Kucherov (Guentzel) 1:37
Now down two, the pace of the game began to open up into a free flowing affair. The next goal came when Z made a great read in the d zone to tip away a pass and then exploded through the neutral zone to create a rush chance he didn’t waste.
CBJ Goal 1-2 Werenski (Unassisted) 17:20
Second Period
Another poor start to a period with Provorov losing the puck behind the net following a faceoff win. The lightning top line took advantage of the scrambling defense with some pretty passing ending with Guentzel tapping one in alone at the back door.
TBL Goal 1-3 Guentzel (Hedman, Point) 1:27
The Lightning top line continued to terrorize the Blue Jackets defensive coverage 5 minutes later when Kucherov threw a pass through the slot and off the side wall. Hedman located the puck and wasted no time blasting it high short side on Elvis.
TBL Goal 1-4 Hedman (Kucherov, Raddysh) 6:36
Halfway through the period Olivier reacted to a scrum behind the Tampa net and committed two roughing minors against Lilleberg, and was assigned a 10 minute game misconduct. The Lightning scored quickly into the 4 minute power playr when Kucherov split the d pair with a great pass to Point, but the play was reviewed and found to be offside. The only goal of the special teams sequence came when KJ intercepted a puck near the blue line and played it wonderfully off the wall to a sprinting Fantilli. Adamo carried the puck into the zone and found Werenski in the slot for his 2nd of the night.
CBJ SH Goal 2-4 Werenski (Fantilli, KJ) 9:43
A nice kill from the Jackets kept them into this game, and with 5 minutes left in the period they got a chance to draw closer on the power play after McDonagh cross checked Fantilli into the glass head first. No success on the power play and the period came to a close with some 4v4 action with JVR and Cernak roughing each other up.
Third Period
Midway through the third a fairly soft hooking call against Severson sent the Lightning back to the power play. Yet another gorgeous passing play from the Lightning found Hedman up top who blasted one behind Elvis on a slight redirect off Chinakhov.
TBL PP Goal 2-5 Hedman (Point, Kucherov) 9:44
The Jackets continued to push and did get pressure on the backup lightning goalie but couldn’t solve him. A late penalty from Moser gave the Jackets a power play, and even with the goalie pulled, they were still unable to draw closer. Guentzel iced the game with an EN goal with over 2 minutes left.
TBL EN Goal 2-6 Guentel (Unassissted) 17:53
Final Thoughts
One of those nights. Coming off a loss last night, the Lightning were sharp early and converted on their first two shots. This opened the game up and played into the hands of that lethal Tampa top 6. Columbus battled in this one and made it interesting in the middle frame, but they were unable to beat the back up goalie, and the top end of Tampa was clearly too much to handle. Fortunately the league scoreboard was good for Columbus with Detroit and New Jersey losing in regulation.
Chinakhov looked to be his usual self in his return but was not in sync with his line mates, a reasonable expectation after missing significant time. His line did not fair well in this game, with a large chunk of their minutes against the Kucherov line. Adam Fantilli had a strong game creating several chances including that beautiful shorthanded setup to Werenski.
Even on a night when the rest of the team struggled, Werenski kept them in this one scoring 2 goals to bring his total to 20 on the year. The Mateychuk/Provorov pairing was victimized most of the night both leave this one with a -3.
Perhaps Elvis could’ve been better in this one but, he still made 34 saves and Tampa’s top line is one of the very best in the league.
Per NST the Jackets won the xG battle at all situations 3.92 to 3.29 despite being outshot 40-33.
Up Next
The Jackets will stay in the sunshine state and take on the Panthers on Thursday at 7