Werenski's winner lifts Blue Jackets past Lightning

COLUMBUS -- Zach Werenski scored at 1:26 of overtime for his fifth point of the game to lift the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 7-6 win against the Tampa Bay Lighting at Nationwide Arena on Thursday.

The defenseman took a pass at the blue line, skated down the slot and scored with a wrist shot from between the circles.

His five points set the record for most in a game by a defenseman in Blue Jackets (8-9-2) history. He had four points three times.

“In this League, if you want to get to where we want to get to, you have to win games like that. You have to win all different ways,” Werenski said.

Of their eight wins, the Blue Jackets have scored seven goals once, six goals five times and five goals once.

“Obviously we want the puck, we want chances and we want shots.” Werenski said. “When we're doing that, we're a dangerous team.”

Werenski had two goals and three assists, Sean Monahan had a goal and three assists, and Kent Johnson scored twice in his return after missing the past 14 games with a shoulder injury for the Blue Jackets. Elvis Merzlikins made 24 saves.

Nikita Kucherov had three assists to surpass 900 NHL points for the Lightning (10-6-2). Anthony Cirelli, Brandon Hagel, Mitchell Chaffee and Conor Geekie each had a goal and an assist, and Jonas Johansson made 36 saves.

Despite jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first period, the Lightning were unable to hold on and their three-game winning streak ended.

“Give a ton of credit to Columbus,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “They didn’t care they were down 3-0. They were like, ‘It’s a 60-minute game, we’ll see what we can do to win this.’ Clearly, we didn’t have that same mindset. In the end, probably the right team won tonight.”

Brayden Point gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead at 1:51 of the first period with a power-play goal, scoring a one-timer below the right circle off a pass from the right corner by Kucherov.

Hagel pushed it to 2-0 at 3:58 with a one-timer off a touch pass from Kucherov.

Cam Atkinson scored his first goal for the Lightning after signing as a free agent on July 2 to make it 3-0 at 11:52 with a redirect of Victor Hedman’s shot.

“Usually when you get up 3-0 in the first period, that’s a pretty good lead and good teams do the right things,” Atkinson said. “We got away from our game plan and made it a track meet and ended up getting the result that, honestly, we deserved.”

Monahan cut the deficit to 3-1 at 13:35 after the puck caromed off the back wall to him at the left post.

Dmitri Voronkov’s breakaway goal 28 seconds into the second period made it 3-2, then Johnson’s one-timer from the right circle tied it 3-3 at 1:55 on the power play.

“We're all pros. We're all going to play pretty hard. It was definitely a nice comeback,” Johnson said.

Chaffee responded to put the Lightning ahead 4-3 at 2:11, but Werenski scored from the right circle to tie it 4-4 at 3:42.

Yegor Chinakhov gave Columbus a 5-4 lead at 5:26 with a wrist shot from the left circle on the rush, then Cirelli converted a centering pass from Hagel to tie it 5-5 at 6:18.

Johnson put Columbus back ahead 6-5 at 10:39 of the third period with a short-handed goal.

“Some guys come back their first time and it's just throwing pucks away,” Columbus coach Dean Evason said of Johnson. “They're jittery and struggle in different areas. He didn't. He just wants to play hockey.”

Geekie scored on the power play to tie it 6-6 at 11:23.

“A lot of guys stepped up in different ways, whether it’s on the kill, blocking shots, or tracking and doing the little things,” Monahan said. “That keeps the team well-rounded.”

NOTES: Werenski has nine points (three goals, six assists) in a four-game point streak. … Johnson became the eighth player in Blue Jackets history to score a short-handed and a power-play goal in the same game. The last to do that was Jack Roslovic (Dec. 11, 2022). … Kucherov has 902 points (331 goals, 571 assists) in 743 games. … Hedman has five points (goal, four assists) in a four-game point streak. … Lightning forward Gage Goncalves got his first NHL point in his eighth game with an assist on Geekie’s goal.