TAMPA, Fla. — For two periods, the Tampa Bay Lightning seemed content to play at three-quarter’s speed and settle for highlight-worthy goals against the undermanned and chronically injured Columbus Blue Jackets, who did everything in their power to keep pace.
It wasn’t until the third period that the Lightning started playing with a little more grease in their game, and, at that point, they left the Blue Jackets in the dust.
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Steven Stamkos had his 13th career hat trick as part of a 4-point night and Nikita Kucherov, the NHL’s leading scorer, had three primary assists for the Lightning, who scored three third-period goals and cruised to a 5-2 win in Amalie Arena.
The Blue Jackets were barely a competitive club a month ago when they were mostly healthy, but the late-season crush of injuries has put them in a difficult spot.
On nights like Tuesday, when they play a highly-talented team that’s playing well and ramping up for the playoffs, it’s all the Blue Jackets can do to just hang on and not get embarrassed. That’s essentially what coach Pascal Vincent said after a three-goal loss.
“Collectively, we played really well,” Vincent said. “We didn’t finish around the net, but we played (well) in all three zones. We didn’t give much. We track the (scoring) chances for and against, and that’s usually a good indication of who is going to win.
“We had it 22 chances for us and 14 for (Tampa Bay). That’s a really good game against any team in the NHL, let alone Tampa Bay. That team (has) won the Stanley Cup. They make plays with no room. They created their chances and finished. But we showed up today. The way we played was the right way.”
If at first you succeed, DO IT AGAIN!@FanaticsBook | #CBJ pic.twitter.com/Ovjri9uZ8G
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) April 10, 2024
Kirill Marchenko scored both of the Blue Jackets’ goals, giving him a club-high and career-high 23 goals on the season. He beat Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy from essentially the same spot — high slot, just off the left circle — with wrist shots.
The first came at 19:17 of the first period and allowed the Blue Jackets to tie the score 1-1 before the first intermission. The second came at 7:13 of the second and gave the Blue Jackets a 2-1 lead until Stamkos started his barrage just seven minutes later.
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The Blue Jackets also got milestone assists from their top two point producers this season. Johnny Gaudreau’s assist on Marchenko’s second goal was the 500th of his career, while Zach Werenski’s helper on the second tied him with James Wisniewski (2013-14) for the club record (44) for single-season assists by a defenseman.
🍎 x 500
Congratulations on an impressive milestone, Johnny Hockey!#CBJ pic.twitter.com/vPRRi4PaFi
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) April 10, 2024
But they were no match for Tampa Bay, even though the Lightning have already clinched a playoff spot, likely as the Eastern Conference’s top wild-card club.
The Lightning have at least four players — Kucherov, Stamkos, Vasilevskiy and defenseman Victor Hedman — who are sure-fire Hall of Famers when their playing days are done. Kucherov is producing this season in a way that most Blue Jackets fans can’t really fathom.
After Tuesday’s win, he has 43-96-139 on the season. The Blue Jackets top two scorers together — Gaudreau (11-48-59) and Werenski (9-44-53) — don’t even approach Kucherov’s total.
Put another way: Kucherov’s 3-point game Tuesday was his 23rd this season. The Blue Jackets’ entire roster has totaled 17 3-point games this season.
The Lightning scored two goals only 16 seconds apart to make it 4-2 at 5:56 of the third. After that, they seemed content to lob pucks out of their zone and retreat, just keeping the clock rolling while the Blue Jackets scrambled to mount a rally.
Stamkos capped his hat trick with an empty net goal late to cap the scoring.
Once again, the Jackets, who have exceeded 300 man-games lost to injury and illness for a third straight season, played most of the game down a player.
Midway through pregame warmups, forward Alex Nylander skated back to the dressing room and was ruled out of the game with a lower-body injury. Carson Meyer took his spot in the lineup, but he left the game after only 1:26 when he absorbed a high check by Tampa Bay’s Luke Glendening.
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Gaudreau has had an up-and-down season for the Blue Jackets, and more will be expected of him under a new general manager and, possibly, a new coach next season.
But the last-minute lineup change — with Justin Danforth moving up to the top line in Nylander’s place — marked the 20th different combination of lineups Gaudreau has played with at the start of games. Rookie Dmitri Voronkov centered the line.
Danforth, who has spent most of the season on the fourth line, missed two breakaway chances that could have changed the outcome.
“You have to adapt really quickly,” Gaudreau said of his ever-changing linemates. “I played with Danny for 10 or 12 games in December. He works extremely hard. We had some chances, we just have to find a way to put them in.”
Also, the Blue Jackets played without assistant coach Steve McCarthy, who left the road trip to attend to “personal matters,” the club said. He was replaced on the bench by another assistant coach, Josef Boumedienne, who typically works an “eye in the sky” shift.
(Photo: Kim Klement Neitzel / USA Today)
