Preview: Jackets face difficult test against Lightning

GAME 7: LIGHTNING (5-1-1) AT BLUE JACKETS (5-1-0)
NATIONWIDE ARENA, 7 P.M., THURSDAY
TV: FOX SPORTS OHIO/FOX SPORTS GO
RADIO: 97.1 FM & BLUEJACKETS.COM
They've won four straight games, but the Blue Jackets must now pass a difficult test if they want to push that number to five.

The Tampa Bay Lightning are coming off their own four-game winning streak, which ended in overtime Tuesday against the New Jersey Devils, and lead the Atlantic Division with 11 points. Columbus is tied with the Devils for the lead in the Metropolitan Division, so this early season matchup of division leaders will draw attention league wide.
Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella is keeping his focus on the 'wins' column, which got another addition for Columbus after a dominant 5-2 victory Tuesday in Winnipeg.
"I like the way we've won games in different ways," Tortorella said. "I thought [Tuesday] was probably our best game, most consistent game, and we get rewarded. Having said that, you move on. You don't get too excited about it. You keep it flat-line. We'll have a pregame skate vs. Tampa on Thursday and play against a really good team."
Leading the way for Tampa Bay is forward Nikita Kucherov, one of the hottest goal-scorers in the NHL right now. Kucherov has at least one goal in all seven games the Lightning have played, and has eight total.
He is one of just six players in the NHL's modern era (1943-44) to start a season with a goal in seven consecutive games. The only other person to do it in the past 30 years is Pittsburgh Penguins legend Mario Lemieux, who scored in 12 straight games to start the 1992-93 season.
The Blue Jackets are coming off their most complete effort since opening the season Oct. 6 at Nationwide Arena with a 5-0 win against the New York Islanders.
They effectively rolled all four lines Tuesday against the Jets, got the desired effect Tortorella was hoping to get from putting veteran Matt Calvert on the second line, and got a solid season-debut from defenseman Markus Nutivaara - who's helping fill in while Gabriel Carlsson (upper body) is on injured reserve.
SERIES RECORD
2017-18 Season: (0-0-0). The teams play twice more this season, Nov. 4 in Tampa Bay and Dec. 31 in Columbus.
All-time: 10-12-2; 6-5-1 at Nationwide Arena
"BY THE NUMBERS"
EYES ON: THE LIGHTNING
EYES ON: THE BLUE JACKETS
FUN FACT
Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella will face a former team for the second time in four games. Tortorella coached the Lighting from 2000 to 2008 (535 games) and steered them to the Stanley Cup in 2004. The first former team he faced in this stretch was the New York Rangers, whom the Blue Jackets defeated 3-1 last Friday at Nationwide Arena. Tortorella coached the Rangers for parts of five seasons (319 games), going 171-118-29.
QUOTABLES
"I don't think we had great goaltending [Saturday] night from 'Bob,' and I thought we saved him in finding a way to win, and I think 'Bob' has saved us a couple of times early in the year. That's how you end up with the points you need to be where you want to be at the end of this marathon of a season."." - Tortorella on Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky
"We did some video the other day, and it looked like they made a deal, like the kids didn't want to play low at all in the offensive zone. They were waiting for [Nick Foligno]. I said, 'We're not making that deal.' Everybody has to do their work, as far as low coverage. It kind of put double duty on [Foligno], but we got rid of that transaction for sure." - Tortorella on replacing rookie Pierre-Luc Dubois with veteran forward Matt Calvert at left wing on the second line centered by Foligno.
PROJECTED LINEUPS
LIGHTNING
Vladislav Namestnikov - Steven Stamkos - Nikita Kucherov
Ondrej Palat - Brayden Point - Yanni Gourde
Alex Killorn - Tyler Johnson - Andrej Sustr
Chris Kunitz - Cedric Paquette - Ryan Callahan
Victor Hedman - Jake Dotchin
Mikhail Sergachev - Anton Stralman
Braydon Coburn - Dan Girardi
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Peter Budaj
Out: J.T. Brown, Slater Koekoek, Gabriel Dumont
Injured reserve: None
BLUE JACKETS
Artemi Panarin - Alexander Wennberg - Cam Atkinson
Matt Calvert - Nick Foligno - Oliver Bjorkstrand
Sonny Milano - Brandon Dubinsky - Josh Anderson
Pierre-Luc Dubois - Lukas Sedlak - Zac Dalpe
Zach Werenski - Seth Jones
Jack Johnson - David Savard
Ryan Murray - Markus Nutivaara
Sergei Bobrovsky
Joonas Korpisalo
Out:Markus Hannikainen, Scott Harrington, Jordan Schroeder (conditioning assignment)
Injured reserve:Boone Jenner (middle body), Sam Vigneault (hand), Gabriel Carlsson (upper body)