The Tampa Bay Lightning begin a stretch of five home dates in six games to conclude December when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets Tuesday night, the second meeting between the Eastern Conference clubs.
Trailing 3-0 at home with Tampa Bay in the opening 11:52 on Nov. 21, Columbus rallied twice and claimed the wild affair 7-6 when Zach Werenski pocketed the overtime game-winner.
Tampa Bay returns from a 3-1-0 Western road trip, beating Vancouver, Calgary and Seattle but losing 2-1 to Edmonton.
The Atlantic Division side arrived in Vancouver completely healthy for the first time this season, but the four games piled up multiple injuries along with the six points.
Anthony Cirelli (12 goals, 15 assists) missed most of the Canucks game after a hard check. Then he and defenseman Erik Cernak were scratched due to injuries against the Oilers. Victor Hedman (four goals, 21 assists) was out for the trip’s final two games.
To cap the rearguard ailments, J.J. Moser was placed on injured reserve after the Flames game, keeping him out until at least Dec. 22 when the team plays the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.
“We defended,” Cooper said of handling the injury bug after their 5-1 win in Seattle. “We can score enough, but you have to defend. … We made them go through all five of us all the time.”
Jake Guentzel hit the net in his sixth consecutive game to tie him with Cirelli for the team’s longest streak thus far.
During a seven-game point streak, Nikita Kucherov has registered 17 points (three goals, 14 assists). Brayden Point extended his point streak to five (four goals, 11 assists).
In Raleigh Sunday night after losing 4-3 in overtime at home to the Anaheim Ducks Saturday, the Blue Jackets failed to get the best of new Carolina Hurricanes netminder Dustin Tokarski, who appeared in an NHL game for the first time since Feb. 18, 2023.
Columbus only managed Dmitri Voronkov’s eighth goal, lost on special teams and fell 4-1 to its Metropolitan Division foe.
The back-to-back results were disappointing, especially considering after Monday’s off day the Jackets will be playing their third game in four nights against a Tampa Bay team that outscored its opposition 18-8 on the road trip.
Columbus went 0-for-5 on the power play and allowed its second short-handed goal this season by Carolina’s Sebastian Aho for the first tally.
The shorty occurred during a four-minute power play after a high-sticking penalty caught Blue Jackets defenseman Jack Johnson up in the eye area and sidelined him all night.
“Obviously, we played (Saturday), but we had some jump, we had some life,” said coach Dean Evason, whose club is 1-5-2 in its past eight. “I think a couple of breaks go our way earlier, I think it could have been a different game.”
Evason switched second- and third-line centers in Carolina, sending pivot Adam Fantilli up to play with Voronkov and Kirill Marchenko, who assisted on his linemate’s marker.
Meanwhile, Cole Sillinger slid down to center Zach Aston-Reese and Mathieu Olivier.
Marchenko has a team-best 11 goals to go with 18 assists in 31 games.
Werenski paces the club with 31 points (10 tallies, 21 assists), has 22 points in his last 18 games and is the first NHL defenseman with double-digit goals.
–Field Level Media