Columbus Blue Jackets @ Tampa Bay Lightning: 3/10/26

 It's a quick turnaround, 5th Line, as the Blue Jackets played a makeup game from the January snowstorm at home yesterday against the L.A. Kings, then hopped on a flight to Tampa Bay to play the Lightning tonight! I must say, the Blue Jackets have vastly improved their play in back-to-back games this season, and you'll see why soon. Period 1 would prove that this would be an exciting game full of energy and skill. The Blue Jackets and Lightning would be nipping at each other's skates from puck drop on. The Blue Jackets would lead shots on goal this opening period, 9-4. Still, the Lightning would have the first goal of the game at 13:38. This goal would become the eighth this season for Gage Goncalves. Victor Hedman comes away with his ffifteenth assist this season on the primary. The unreal Nikita Kucherov would add his seventieth assist this season on the secondary. Towards the end of this period, Cole Sillinger would hold his own in a fight with Lightning's J.J. Moser! Both men would get 5-minutes for fighting, while Cole Sillinger got 2 extra minutes for roughing, and J.J. Moser got 2 extra minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct. So, fireworks with no backlash as both teams would play 5-on-5! This period would close out with the home team leading 1-0, but not for long! 

5:57 into Period 2, Ivan Provorov would match the Lightnings' ggoal in Period 1 with his eighth this season! Denton Mateychuk adds assist number seventeen to his season, while Charlie Coyle continues his argument for a contract extension by reaching his thirty-fifth assist this season on the secondary. Then, not even a minute later at 6:27, Connor Garland gets his third goal in three games since becoming a Blue Jacket! This is his tenth goal of the game, and it proves to me that the change of scenery was just what he needed. Kent Johnson, who's been firing on all cylinders since being a healthy scratch after the Olympic Break, adds his fourteenth assist this season with this goal's primary, and Sean Monahan hits twenty assists after picking up the secondary. Then, as Greg Goncalves sat in the box for two minutes after tripping Zach Werenski, Kirill Marchenko would charge the net and score his twenty-fourth goal this season at 11:42! Adam Fantill gets his twenty-seventh assist with the primary, while Zach Werenski gets his forty-seventh on the secondary! Now, the Lightning would come back and cut the Blue Jackets' lead in half at 16:23 with J.J. Moser's seventh goal this season. The only assist on this goal would come from Anthony Cirelli, and it would become his twenty-fourth this season. That said, the Blue Jackets would continue to lead shots on goal, 12-8 this period, and take the lead on the scoreboard, too, 3-2! 

In Period 3, we would see the Blue Jackets dominate better than Periods 1 and 2 combined. They had the lead and protected it to the end. First, Conor Garland adds his fourth goal since joining the Blue Jackets ahead of the March 6th trade deadline! His eleventh goal would come on the power play, too, as Jake Guentzel sat in the box for hooking Cole Sillinger. Say it with me, "In Don we trust"! Sean Monahan comes away with his second assist tonight, twenty-first this season, and Zach Werenski also adds his second assist tonight, Forty-eighth this season. Then, at 15:28, the Lightning would try pulling Andrei Vasilevskiy, and it would take seconds for Dante Fabbro no time to score his fifth goal this season! It happened so fast, the NHL didn't even mark it as an empty net goal! And, I'm a happy blogger, because it isn't every night I get to report a goalie assist, but Elvis Merzlikins now has two this season after picking up the only assist on this goal! The final minutes would tick away, and the Blue Jackets would find their winning ways again in regulation, 5-2! The final shots on goal for the third period were also in favor of our Blue Jackets, 10-6. The Blue Jackets finish the season against the Tampa Bay lightning 3-0-0, and it's been 9 seasons since we pulled off the series sweep against this skilled team! GO CBJ!

Honorable mention, the Blue Jackets allowed no goals after the Lightning had three chances with the power play advantage. Love it. 

J.J. Moser gets the Third Star of the Game after having the Lightning's second goal of the night. 

Zach Werenski gets the Second Star of the Game with his two assists on the third and fourth goals tonight. 

Conor Garland gets the First Star of the Game after having two goals tonight! 

The playoff hunt for the Blue Jackets gets even closer after this regulation win. When today started, the Boston Bruins, who hold the second wildcard spot, were only ahead of us by 2 points. The Bruins, unfortunately, pulled off an overtime win at home against the L.A. Kings. So, they stay ahead of us by 2 points. That said, we're still where we were, and I'll take it. 

The Detroit Red Wings hold onto the first wildcard spot after a loss tonight, 4-3 on the road against our next opponent, the Florida Panthers. They sit only 3 points ahead of us. 

The New York Islanders, who had to go to overtime to win against the St. Louis Blues tonight, sit at 79 points. Again, 3 points ahead of us. 

The Pittsburgh Penguins also sit ahead of us at 79 points. They also went to overtime on the road at the Carolina Hurricanes, but lost, 5-4. 

The key note among all these scores and point stats is that we have plenty of teams to compete with, and if we succeed, plenty to jump and move into the playoffs. This team is ready. This fanbase is ready. It's a real and exciting push to the playoffs, unlike any I've covered, and I'm so excited! The Blue Jackets can soak up some sun on a day off tomorrow as they play in Florida again Thursday night against the Panthers. I love how this team looks after a day off and same state travel! The puck will drop at 7:00 p.m. 

GO CBJ!