4
0
Columbus beaten by wrathful Lightning.
CBJ-3
TB-6
Andrei Vasilevskiy allowed three goals on 24 shots for the victory.
First Period
1:40 TB Kucherov (15), (Cernak, Hagel)
9:05 TB Paul (15), (Kucherov, Hedman)(PP)
Second Period
7:04 CBJ Bayreuther (2), (Roslovic, Laine)
10:25 TB Namestnikov (3), (Bellemare)
Third Period
4:35 CBJ Berni (1), (Laine, Boqvist)
6:33 TB Kucherov (16), (Hedman, Stamkos)(PP)
12:22 TB Point (23), (Kucherov, Stamkos)(PP)
13:48 TB Colton (9), (Maroon, Paul)
16:34 CBJ Marchenko (9), (unassisted)
Nikita Kucherov, Victor Hedman, and Vladislav Namestnikov were the game’s three stars.
But for some decent goaltending by Columbus, the Lightning could’ve scored nine or ten goals tonight, I thought. Shots were 46-24 and the score didn’t reflect how lopsided the game was. Coach Cooper is going to use some mental lapses that led to the three goals against as a point of teaching emphasis, as he should. But, coming off a couple of stinkers, this surly team really imposed its will on a pretty green and pretty defenseless opponent.
51 points for the Lightning means they’re three points ahead of playoff pace with one game left to go in this 10-game segment of the season. To clinch a successful segment and keep the 5 insurance points they had coming into the segment they need to get a win in Game 40 against Vancouver. I’m not going to get too low on this team until/unless they fail to hit one of these 12:10 goals, and thus far they’ve hit every one.
Nick Perbix was -1 with an impressive 7 shots on goal in 16:58.
Box score and extended statistics from NHL.com.
