Stamkos reaches 100 points, Lightning defeat Blue Jackets

TAMPA -- Steven Stamkos reached 100 points for the first time in his NHL career when he had two goals and two assists for the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 4-1 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Amalie Arena on Tuesday.

Stamkos has 39 goals and 62 assists in 79 games this season. The 32-year-old had 98 points (45 goals, 53 assists) in 82 games in 2018-19.
"It's something I've never done before; I've come pretty close, so to do it in [my 14th season]," Stamkos said. "I'm more proud of the fact that I've probably proved a lot of people wrong. It's the people that have always believed in me that make these moments pretty special."

Nikita Kucherov had a goal and three assists for the Lightning (50-22-8), who have won four in a row. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 20 saves.
Tampa Bay remained three points ahead of the Boston Bruins for third place in the Atlantic Division. Boston won 4-2 against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday.
"This group continues to find a way, and now we're at 50 wins and 100-plus points once again," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "This isn't guaranteeing playoff success, but it's a pretty darn good run for the past decade from this group. I'm excited to see what we're going to do. This is going to be a fun spring."
Oliver Bjorkstrand scored for the Blue Jackets (36-37-8), who are 1-4-1 in their past six games. Elvis Merzlikins made 28 saves.
"I had no issues with how we played," Columbus coach Brad Larsen said. "We had zero passengers tonight. We had a lot of good looks, but they have a big group back there, and when you get past them you have that big guy [Vasilevskiy]."

Kucherov gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead at 1:37 of the first period with a shot from the slot, but Bjorkstrand responded 1:22 later with a power-play goal at 2:59 to tie it 1-1.
"I thought we played well and had some chances," Bjorkstrand said. "But against a team like that, you have to be careful. They have a lot of weapons. This game is something for our group to learn from."
Stamkos put the Lightning back in front with a power-play goal at 16:47 to make it 2-1. Defenseman Victor Hedman had an assist for his 600th NHL point (134 goals, 466 assists).
"Great feeling, obviously, it happened the same way 'Stammer' got his franchise record -- me to 'Kuch,' seam pass to Stammer," Hedman said. "Perfect scenario, we've seen those a few times. It's great to get that milestone today."
Stamkos got his 100th point when he scored again at 7:29 of the second period to give Tampa Bay a 3-1 lead. He has three or more points in five straight games and 21 points during a seven-game multipoint streak (seven goals, 14 assists).
"It's been a pretty good run here in the last couple of weeks," Stamkos said. "If you would have asked me about this a couple of weeks ago, I would've settled for something less than 100.
"The power play is clicking and everything is coming together at the right time. That's more important; we want to be feeling good about ourselves going into the postseason. We're certainly trending in that direction."
Ondrej Palat scored at 14:53 of the third period with a one-timer from Kucherov for the 4-1 final.
"They shut us down pretty good in the third period," Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski said. "They didn't give us very much. They're a team that knows how to win."

NOTES: It's the fourth time the Lightning have won 50 games in a season (2014-15, 2017-18, 2018-19) since entering the NHL in 1992. They are 11-for-21 on the power play in their past six games. … Kucherov has 20 points (nine goals, 11 assists) during a seven-game point streak. ... Bjorkstrand has goals in consecutive games after not scoring in the previous 11. ... Werenski returned after missing three games because of an upper-body injury. He had an assist in 23:01 of ice time.