The Columbus Blue Jackets played okay but a tough 44 seconds at the end of the first period set the pace for a blowout score.
1st Period
The Blue Jackets started the game well, playing strong in the defensive end and matching Tampa up and down the ice. The opening 15 minutes or so were fairly lackadaisical before the Lightning struck for two goals just 44 seconds apart in the final minutes of the first period, with Mathieu Joseph lighting the lamp from in front as about four different Blue Jacket defenders were in the area and Brayden Point snuck behind the Jackets backcheck on a rush and put home a deflected puck, giving the Lightning a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes.
2nd Period
A boring period which saw the Blue Jackets notch chance after chance – they outshot Tampa 17-3 in the frame – but none of the chances were sustained or super quality.
3rd Period
Nikita Kucherov buried the puck from the doorstep on a beauty of a pass from Tyler Johnson, who forced a turnover in the neutral zone to make it 3-0.
Brayden Point made it 4-0 a couple of minutes later, notching his 26th goal of the season after walking the puck in from the neutral zone.
Overall
Tampa is super good, the Blue Jackets ran into a red-hot Andrei Vasilevskiy and should never play in Tampa ever again.