FINAL: Blue Jackets 4, Lightning 2

The Blue Jackets got back in the win column with a 4-2 triumph against Tampa Bay on Tuesday night at Nationwide Arena.

Quote of the Game

Max Domi: "I think it felt nice to come home, obviously play in front of our fans. It was a great showing tonight. I think everyone was playing good. We get hungry playing against good hockey teams, that's for sure, and that is one of the best. A huge win tonight and we did a lot of good things."

CBJ Standouts

Quick Recap

The two teams played a fairly even first period, but it was Columbus that left with a 1-0 lead thanks to Dalpe's goal at the 14:57 mark. Shortly after the Blue Jackets killed off a Tampa Bay power play that had a few chances on Korpisalo, Columbus scored on the rush. Seth Jones' breakout pass to Domi found him at the blue line, and he quickly saucered the puck to Dalpe, who had gotten behind Victor Hedman, and Dalpe made no mistake, one-touching the puck past Andrei Vasilevskiy to give Columbus the lead.
The Blue Jackets needed just 2:03 of the second period to take a 2-0 lead on a goal by Roslovic. Columbus dumped the puck into the zone and Vasilevskiy played it to defenseman Ben Thomas behind the net, but Cam Atkinson forced a turnover and the puck went right to Roslovic in front of the net, and he roofed a shot past the Tampa goalie short side to double the CBJ lead.
Korpisalo kept it a 2-0 game shortly thereafter with a sharp glove save on Alex Killorn as he came in along the left side, and Columbus had a few more chances in the period as well. Roslovic hit the crossbar on the power play, while Vasilevskiy got over to make a stop on Boone Jenner at the post after a nifty cross-crease feed from Atkinson.
The Blue Jackets then made it 3-0 early in the third on a power-play goal. Roslovic got the puck to Zach Werenski at the top of the zone, and he fed Domi in the right circle. From there, Domi picked his spot and, with Alexandre Texier at the net front, ripped a shot off the near post and in past Vasilevskiy at 6:08.
Tampa Bay pulled Vasilevskiy with 7:16 to go looking to create some offense, but with 6:30 left, captain Nick Foligno found a loose puck and sent it through multiple Lightning players into the empty net to make it 4-0.
That proved to be a big goal as Ross Colton scores with 5:23 left with a wrister from the left dot that got past Korpisalo's blocker, making it 4-1. The Lightning had a power play late and couldn't score, and Luke Schenn's tally through a screen with 18.7 seconds left set the final score at 4-2.

3 Takeaways

1. Tampa time: It is hard to say the Blue Jackets look forward to seeing Tampa Bay on the schedule, but ever since that 2019 playoff series win, Columbus at least seems to play the Bolts well. The Lightning obviously got some revenge last year with the postseason series win, but the Jackets are 3-1-1 against Tampa Bay this year, and they'd have points in all five games were it not for last Thursday's loss in which a 2-1 lead turned into a 3-2 loss in the final 10 minutes. "That's a good team over there, obviously," Dom isaid. "We know that. You have to respect them but know that you can win." Columbus has done just that this year, posting their best points percentage against any Central Division foe against the Lightning. And with three games left against Tampa, the hope is that can continue.
   2. Penalties, killed: It's not sexy work, but the Blue Jackets penalty kill has quietly been a key part of the team's game of late. Traditionally a strong PK under the current regime thanks to the tireless work of Brad Shaw, Columbus really struggled while a man down at the midway point of the season, giving up 12 power play goals in 38 chances (a 31.6-percent success rate for the opposition) in a 15-game stretch through March 18. But in the 10 games since, the Jackets have allowed just one power-play goal in 23 chances, and that proved huge on this night as Tampa Bay's third-ranked power play coming in was 0-for-4. "That's a big part of the game," Tortorella said. "Slowly but surely it's gotten more consistent for us. Shawzy has made some adjustments in it that I think have helped."
   3. Finally, some offense: For the third note, we could write about how good Korpisalo was, and he did turn in a yeoman's effort in the win. But while we don't want that to go unmentioned, probably the bigger key was seeing some pucks go in the net. Columbus had scored just 12 times in the previous eight games, and the offensive frustration had clearly been bubbling. But the Jackets got it started early, tallying in the first period to end a nine-game scoreless streak in the opening frame, with Dalpe's goal. "When you come off a long trip like that, that first one always seems to be a tough game," Tortorella said. "(The goal) gave us energy." From there, Roslovic added on, the team got a third-period power-play goal, and Foligno's empty-netter gave the CBJ its first four-goal game since March 13. It couldn't have come at a better time.

Notable

Jenner left in the third period after getting hit by a shot by Patrik Laine and did not return. ... Dalpe had 62 goals in 133 games with the Cleveland Monsters of the AHL before netting his first goal in a CBJ sweater. ... Korpisalo earned his first win since March 18. He had been 0-2-1 in four appearances since. ... Werenski has a 5-7-12 line in the last 15 games with his assist on the Domi goal. … Columbus scored in the first period for the first time in nine games. …The Blue Jackets had five power plays in a game for just the third time all season, scoring on one of them. ... Tortorella has 670 career wins, two behind Mike Keenan for 12th place in NHL history. … Columbus has stopped 22 of 23 power-play chances in the last 10 games after killing four Tampa Bay chances. ... The Blue Jackets have won three of four in the regular-season series over the Bolts to follow an eight-game losing streak (0-5-3) in the series.

Roster Report

With the knee injury to Riley Nash, the Blue Jackets made one change, inserting Dalpe into the lineup in his place. Scratches were forward Kevin Stenlund as well as defensemen Gabriel Carlsson and Dean Kukan.

Up Next

Columbus and Tampa Bay renew their rivalry Thursday night in Nationwide Arena at 7 p.m.