Blue Jackets at Lightning
The Tampa Bay Lightning were carried by the dynamic goaltending duo of Ben Bishop and Andrei Vasilevskiy on their successful road trip, and the offense stepped up when they returned home on Wednesday. The Lightning look to build off a three-goal, third-period rally when they take on former coach John Tortorella and his visiting Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday.
Alex Killorn tied the game with 6:32 to go and Ryan Callahan scored 12 seconds later as Tampa Bay went on to defeat Philadelphia 4-2 for its fifth victory in six contests. Tortorella, who led the Lightning to the Stanley Cup championship in 2004, told reporters the Blue Jackets were “on the outside all night” against Calgary in a 2-0 loss last time out. It was the second straight setback for Columbus after a four-game winning streak and the first time it had been shut out all season. Sergei Bobrovsky lost for the first time in five starts Wednesday, but the Blue Jackets' netminder has limited opponents to two or fewer goals in nine of his last 11 games.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN Ohio (Columbus), FSN Sun (Tampa Bay)
ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (10-5-3): Columbus still owns the league's top-ranked power play at 28.6 percent but has converted just three times in 24 opportunities over the last nine games. Captain Nick Foligno shares the team lead in goals with Cam Atkinson and Sam Gagner at seven and tops the Blue Jackets with 18 points while Alexander Wennberg has notched 14 assists. Defenseman Seth Jones returned to the lineup in the overtime loss to Colorado on Monday after a two-week absence and has registered seven shots with a minus-2 rating the last two games.
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (13-7-1): The loss of captain Steven Stamkos (knee surgery) will require others to provide more, and Killorn has stepped up with a pair of goals and two assists in the last four games. Nikita Kucherov entered Thursday second in the league in scoring with 24 points after recording his ninth goal in 12 games this month on Wednesday. The Lightning went with seven defensemen against Philadelphia as forwards Brian Boyle and J.T. Brown sat out with upper-body injuries, while Erik Condra made his season debut after being recalled from Syracuse of the American Hockey League.
OVERTIME
1. The Lightning have won six of the last seven meetings, including all three last season by a total score of 11-3.
2. Columbus D Zach Werenski leads all rookie blue-liners with five goals and 15 points.
3. Tampa Bay F Jonathan Drouin leads all active players on the team with three shots per contest.