Lightning at Blue Jackets
The Columbus Blue Jackets look to continue their steady rise in the Eastern Conference when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday. The Blue Jackets, who have won four of five games this month with eight of the next 10 contests slated for home ice, have last season’s Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky back healthy for the second half. The Lightning were shut out in their last trip to Columbus 1-0 on Dec. 3, but are 11-4-3 since and stand second in the Atlantic Division.
Bobrovsky sat out Saturday’s 6-3 victory at Winnipeg as the Blue Jackets matched their season high in goals. “We’re still trying to find our way, doing the right things for 60 minutes,” left wing Nick Foligno told the Columbus Dispatch. “But when we play like that, that’s fun to watch.” The Lightning are coming off an offensive explosion of their own in a 6-3 victory at Philadelphia on Saturday.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, RDS, SunSports (Tampa Bay), FSN Ohio (Columbus)
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (27-14-4): Anders Lindback bounced back after a rough outing to make 35 saves against Philadelphia and could get another start with Ben Bishop considered day-to-day due to a sprained right wrist. Regardless of which goaltender is in net, he probably won’t have Sami Salo in front of him after the veteran defenseman suffered a lower-body injury on Saturday. The forward line of Alex Killorn, Valtteri Filppula and Teddy Purcell totaled six points Saturday and the trio has combined for a plus-27 rating overall.
ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (21-20-4): Bobrovsky owns two victories in two outings since returning from injury - including a shutout of Carolina last Friday. Leading scorer Ryan Johansen has cooled off in January, with only one point in five games, after posting 19 in the previous 17 contests. Rookie Boone Jenner and Mark Letestu each scored twice at Winnipeg on Saturday and Nathan Horton has three points in five games since returning from surgery.
OVERTIME
1. Horton has posted 26 goals and 46 points, the most against any team, in 46 career games against Tampa Bay.
2. Tampa Bay D Matt Carle boasts a six-game point streak and leads the club with a plus-16 rating after an impressive plus-6 performance versus his former team on Saturday.
3. The Blue Jackets are 6-2-1 in their last nine home games after starting 4-7-1.