Stamkos' shootout goal lifts Lightning past Blue Jackets
TAMPA, Fla. -- Steven Stamkos scored the only goal in the shootout to lift the league-leading Tampa Bay Lightning to a 5-4 victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.
Seth Jones, Zach Werenski, Brandon Dubinsky and Markus Hannikainen scored for the Blue Jackets while goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky made 32 saves.
Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov each scored a goal while Victor Hedman picked up a pair of assists. Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 30 saves. Brayden Point and Yanni Gourde also scored for Tampa Bay.
The teams exchanged leads in a wide-open first period that featured four combined goals and 32 shots.
Jones put Columbus in front early as his shot from along the right boards deflected off the stick of Victor Hedman and popped up and over Vasilevskiy at 2:30. Tampa Bay would answer quickly and score twice in the span of 38 seconds to take the lead. Point collected a deflected puck at the top of the crease and lifted a backhand over Bobrovsky 24 seconds after Jones scored. Kucherov scored his league-best 14th goal of the season, taking a cross-ice pass from Mikhail Sergachev and finding the open half of the net from the right circle at 3:32.
Werenski pulled the Blue Jackets even, alone in front of the net to one-time a quick shot off a pass from Pierre-Luc Dubois from behind the goal line at 10:55.
Tampa Bay regained the lead with a power-play goal from Stamkos at the 6:20 mark of the second period, finding the half of the net open at the left circle after a cross-ice pass from Kucherov. The lead extended to 4-2 late in the period when Gourde flipped a puck down low to Alex Killorn, who returned the favor and fed Gourde coming open down the slot for his fourth of the season with 1:59 left in the period.
The Blue Jackets came out aggressive to start the third period, putting the Lightning under pressure and struck twice in the span of 1:59 to get back even. Hannikainen scored on a wraparound at 9:46 while Dubinsky scored his first of the season at 11:45.
NOTES: The Lightning held a pregame ceremony honoring the 2004 Stanley Cup championship, which was coached by current Columbus head coach, John Tortorella. ... Columbus RW Cam Atkinson missed his third consecutive game with a hip injury, but Tortorella said Atkinson could be ready to return on Tuesday when the Blue Jackets host Nashville. ... Tampa Bay RW Nikita Kucherov scored his 14th goal of the season and has not gone consecutive games this season without a goal. ... The Blue Jackets scratched D Scott Harrington, C Zac Dalper and Atkinson. ... The Lightning scratched D Slater Koekkoek, C Gabriel Dumont and C Cedric Paquette (upper body).