FINAL: Lightning 3, Blue Jackets 1

The Blue Jackets dropped a 3-1 final to Tampa Bay on Thursday night at Amalie Arena in downtown Tampa.

Quote of the Game

Head coach John Tortorella: "I thought we checked well. I thought we did the things we talked about improving on. Still have to clear up turnovers and certain situations, but yeah, we certainly have to develop more offense."

CBJ Standouts

Quick Recap

What's old was new again in the opening minute as it took former CBJ defenseman David Savard just 15 seconds to put a shot on net that was stopped by Merzlikins. The CBJ goalie also made stops on Barclay Goodrow and Brayden Point in the opening minutes before having some free time late in the period, as the Lightning didn't get a shot on goal in the last 11:34 of the frame.
That allowed Columbus to take a 1-0 lead when given a power play near the midway point of the frame. Patrik Laine protected the puck and got it Bjorkstrand, who teed up Jones at the top of the zone for a slap shot that deflected off the stick of Alex Killorn and past goalie Curtis McElhinney at the 9:36 mark.
The Blue Jackets had a chance to double the lead early in the second period as Bjorkstrand sprung Jack Roslovic on a breakawway, but McElhinney made the save with his blocker to deny the CBJ center.
Merzlikins made a fantastic stop with Tampa Bay on the power play as he stuck out his right pad to deny a deflection at the top of the crease by Alex Killorn, but the Bolts would tie the score with 5:09 left in the frame. A CBJ turnover in the neutral zone was gathered by Yanni Gourde, who threw a pass across the zone to Coleman for a slap shot from the right circle that went off Merzlikins glove and bounced across the line to make it a 1-1 game.
Merzlikins made a big stop on Killorn early in the third period, but Tampa Bay kept pushing and took a 2-1 lead at 8:14 of the period. Merzlikins stopped a shot by Erik Cernak from a sharp angle, but Killorn tracked down the rebound and centered from south of the red line to the onrushing Ondrej Palat, who beat the CBJ goalie far side from the right circle to give the Lightning its first lead.
Columbus pulled Merzlikins for an extra attacker with more than 2:30 to go, but Laine unfortunately fanned on a shot and Coleman threw the puck 170 feet down the ice for an empty-net goal with 24.8 seconds left to set the final score.

3 Takeaways

1. A defensive game: Even without Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos, this is still a dangerous Lightning team, so the game was played at a pace that suited the Blue Jackets. In fact, at 5-on-5, the teams combined for just 1.78 expected goals, the low water mark for any CBJ game this year and one of the lowest in the NHL this year. Frankly put, it wasn't especially pleasing from an artistic standpoint, but for the Jackets to compete against the Lightning, that's the kind of game the team probably wants to play. Columbus did a lot of good things defensively, but one too many mistakes and a lack of offense -- a consistent theme with all the players out -- combined to doom the Jackets again. "We played good, we had a lot of scoring chances, we just didn't score," Merzlikins said postgame. "We're just not a high-scoring team at the moment," Jones added.
   2. Another bad break: Columbus has lost just about every coaches' challenge it's entered this year -- Tortorella is 1-for-8 on the season, in fact -- but another rule situation went against the Jackets on the winning goal. Killorn appeared to clip Merzlikins in the mask or neck with his stick as he cut by the crease moments before the tiebreaking tally. Tortorella said he was unable to challenge because it should have been a high-sticking penalty, but penalties can't be challenged. The Jackets could have tried going for goaltender interference, but that probably would have been a hail mary. Merzlikins was unhappy about the situation, the latest close call to go against the team. "Obviously you don't feel good when you get a stick in your neck. I don't know how I am even supposed to save that," he said, demurring on the opportunity to comment further.
   3. Hey, Savy! On a night where former captain Nick Foligno debuted in Toronto, former CBJ defenseman David Savard skated against the Jackets in Tampa in his sixth game since being traded ahead of the deadline earlier this month. Savard skated on the second pair with Ryan McDonagh and skated 21:25 with that opening shot on goal and a plus-1 rating. Given the Jackets are out of the playoff fight, there was some good natured talk between Savard and his former teammates ahead of the game. "Yeah, very weird," Jones said. "He was here for 10 years and he's a great guy. I'm sure they're happy to have him on their side over there. We were having a little fun during warmups." Added Tortorella: "I just wish him the best, and I'm thrilled he's going to get an opportunity to play in the playoffs. He's going to help that team."

Notable

Bjorkstrand now leads the Jackets in all three major statistical categories with a 15-21-36 line. … The Blue Jackets have tallied first in 29 of 49 games but have won just 12 of those games. … Columbus killed a trio of Tampa power plays and is 42 for 46 (91.2 percent) on the PK in the last 18 games. … The Jackets have been outscored 63-34 in the second period this year. ... The Blue Jackets have scored exactly one goal in four of the last five games. … Columbus fell to 2-13-2 in its last 17 games and is on an eight-game losing skid (0-7-1). ... Columbus fell to 3-3-1 vs. the Lightning this year.
Roster Report
Columbus made two changes to the skater line, inserting forwards Max Domi and Nathan Gerbe for Zach Dalpe (who left for the birth of his third son) and Kevin Stenlund. Those two were healthy scratches along with forward Mikhail Grigorenko as well as defensemen Gabriel Carlsson, Scott Harrington and Andrew Peeke.

Up Next

Columbus and Tampa Bay complete the season series and the Jackets end their six-game road trip with a Sunday night game at 7 p.m.