Blue Jackets get road win over Lightning
TAMPA, Fla. - The Columbus Blue Jackets looked for a strong bounce-back effort and delivered with a convincing road victory.
Cam Atkinson, Alexander Wennberg and Brandon Saad each finished with a goal and an assist as the Blue Jackets knocked off the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-3 at Amalie Arena on Friday.
Josh Anderson and Nick Foligno also scored for Columbus, which had lost to Calgary on Wednesday, while Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 25 shots to pick up the victory.
Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat each had a goal and assist for Tampa Bay, Jason Garrison scored his first of the season while Ben Bishop finished with 33 saves while taking the loss.
The Blue Jackets came out with a strong push, following coach John Tortorella's directive to be stronger around the net at both ends of the ice.
Wennberg was doing just that when he put Columbus in front, hanging out just above the crease when he found loose puck, made one quick move to his left and put a shot in to the open side of the net 3:46 into the game. After Luke Witkowski went off with a tripping call, the Blue Jackets' power play struck when Atkinson tried to stuff a rebound in at the left post but instead found Foligno at the opposite post for a tap in at 8:35 to give Columbus a two-goal lead before Tampa Bay even registered a shot on goal.
The Blue Jackets dominated the opening period, holding the Lightning to just four shots on goal, none for the first 10:05 of the game, and six shot attempts.
Kucherov cut the Lightning deficit in half by sitting at the left post and tapping in a pass from Tyler Johnson for his 11th goal of the season at 8:33 of the second period.
But Columbus came back on the next shift, as Anderson regained the two-goal lead 29 seconds after Kucherov's goal.
The Lightning made a late push in the second period and cut the lead to a goal as Valtteri Filppula left a drop pass for Garrison, who followed his own rebound and pushed the puck under Bobrovsky with 1:32 left in the second.
Tampa Bay carried that momentum in to the third period and tied the game as Palat pushed in a pass from Kucherov during a delayed penalty at 3:37. But Columbus again answered to regain the lead less than a minute later on Saad's goal during 4-on-4 play, 57 seconds after Palat's goal.
Atkinson added a shorthanded goal at 11:13, taking advantage of a giveaway by Victor Hedman, who lost control of the puck in his own end.
NOTES: Columbus placed LW Matt Calvert on injured reserve retroactive to Nov. 21 due to an undisclosed upper-body injury. ... Rookie C Justin Scott was recalled from Cleveland of the American Hockey League and joined the team Friday, arriving at Amalie Arena while the team was on the ice for the morning skate. Scott was a healthy scratch. ... The Blue Jackets, who play Friday at Florida, are 2-1-2 in the second half of back-to-back games this season. ... Lightning C Brian Boyle returned to the lineup after missing Wednesday's game against Philadelphia. ... Tampa Bay RW J.T. Brown missed his second consecutive game with an undisclosed upper-body injury. ... Columbus scratched D Scott Harrington (healthy) and D Dalton Prout (upper body). ... Lightning D Anton Stralman continues to skate with the team but missed his seventh consecutive game with an upper body injury. ... Tampa Bay scratched RW Erik Condra. ... Lightning D Luke Witkowski recorded his first career NHL point with a secondary assist.