Tampa Bay set the tone early on, striking for three goals in the opening six minutes of regulation.
Blake Coleman was first, sprinting ahead to create a 2-on-1 rush and putting home Yanni Gourde's feed. Steven Stamkos followed on a power play four minutes later with a snipe from the left circle that slipped under the arm of Joonas Korpisalo. Exactly one minute later, Gourde swept his shot off the post, but the rebound fell right to Barclay Goodrow, who scored to make it 3-0.
After making a move to Elvis Merzlikins in net settled things down and a goal from Michael Del Zotto at 17:21 pulled them within one, it appeared the Blue Jackets would take some momentum into the second. Instead, the Bolts added a fourth goal with 0.4 seconds remaining in the first to reestablish a three-goal cushion. It was Ryan McDonagh jumping up on the rush and jamming the puck through Merzlikins' pads just before time expired to close a wild opening 20 minutes with the Lightning up 4-1.
Less than five minutes into the second, Ross Colton added his sixth goal of the season to extend the lead to four. Colton streaked down the middle of the ice on a rush and gathered a feed from Tyler Johnson before snapping a shot past Merzlikins.
After Jack Roslovic got the Blue Jackets back within three, McDonagh added his second goal of the night with just over a minute to play in the period. Merzlikins got a big piece of McDonagh's point shot but still allowed the puck to get through and put the Bolts back up by four.
Zach Werenski and Max Domi each scored in the third period to get Columbus within two and round out the scoring.
The Bolts will now depart for Nashville to open a two-game series against the Predators on Saturday night.
Scoring Summary
1st Period
TBL | 0:58 Blake Coleman (8) - Yanni Gourde, Barclay Goodrow
TBL | 4:41 Steven Stamkos (17) - Victor Hedman, Ondrej Palat - PPG
TBL | 5:41 Barclay Goodrow (6) - Yanni Gourde, Blake Coleman
CBJ | 17:21 Michael Del Zotto (3) - Jack Roslovic, Elvis Merzlikins
TBL | 19:59 Ryan McDonagh (3) - Yanni Gourde, Blake Coleman
2nd Period
TBL | 4:54 Ross Colton (6) - Tyler Johnson, Pat Maroon
CBJ | 17:08 Jack Roslovic (8) - Mikhail Grigorenko, Cam Atkinson
TBL | 18:56 Ryan McDonagh (4) - Yanni Gourde, Barclay Goodrow
3rd Period
CBJ | 10:41 Zach Werenski (7) - Alexandre Texier, Jack Roslovic
CBJ | 19:14 Max Domi (7) - Oliver Bjorkstrand, Dean Kukan
