The Tampa Bay Lightning overcame a pair of one-goal deficits across the final two periods, but it was the Columbus Blue Jackets who left with a 7-6 overtime victory at Nationwide Arena on Thursday.
Tampa Bay led 3-1 after one period before the teams traded six goals in the second period to enter the third tied 5-5. They traded goals in the third before Zach Werenski ended the game in overtime for the home team.
Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov had three assists to reach 900 career points in the loss, and Bolts forward Gage Goncalves recorded his first NHL point by assisting on Conor Geekie’s tying goal in the third period.
The Lightning are 10-6-2 on the year and have earned standings points in five straight games. Their next opponent is the Dallas Stars in a game set for 7 p.m. Saturday at AMALIE Arena.
Scoring Summary
1st Period
TBL 1, CBJ 0
1:51 Brayden Point (11) - Nikita Kucherov, Jake Guentzel - PP
Brayden Point scored his third goal in two games on a power-play goal less than two minutes after the opening puck-drop on Thursday. Point buried a one-timer from the bottom of the right face-off circle after a feed from Nikita Kucherov in the right corner. Kucherov’s assist gave him 900 career points.
TBL 2, CBJ 0
3:58 Brandon Hagel (9) - Kucherov, Anthony Cirelli
Forward Brandon Hagel doubled the Lightning lead just over two minutes after the Point goal. Kucherov found a rebound in the high slot after a slap shot from Anthony Cirelli and slid the puck over to Hagel for a one-timer near the right hashmark.
TBL 3, CBJ 0
11:52 Cam Atkinson (1) - Victor Hedman, Mitchell Chaffee
Forward Cam Atkinson scored his first goal in Tampa Bay blue in front of the Columbus net, redirected a shot from the right point by Victor Hedman to extend the Lightning lead to three goals.
TBL 3, CBJ 1
13:38 Sean Monahan (7) - Dmitri Voronkov, Damon Severson
Columbus closed the scoring in the first period thanks to Sean Monahan, who found the puck open near the right goalpost after a point shot bounced to him off the back wall.
Shots on goal: TBL 12, CBJ 8
2nd Period
TBL 3, CBJ 2
00:28 Voronkov (4) - Monahan, Zach Werenski
Columbus got their second goal of the game less than 30 seconds into the middle frame when Dmitri Voronkov snuck in on a breakaway.
TBL 3, CBJ 3
1:55 Kent Johnson (3) - Werenski, Kirill Marchenko - PP
The home team tied the game with a power-play goal from forward Kent Johnson. Johnson wound up for a one-timer from the right face-off dot to even the score.
TBL 4, CBJ 3
2:11 Chaffee (5) - Conor Geekie
It took only 16 seconds after Johnson’s goal for Mitchell Chaffee to give the lead back to the visitors. Chaffee batted the puck into the net on a rebound in front after an initial shot by Conor Geekie.
TBL 4, CBJ 4
3:42 Werenski (5) - Monahan
Defenseman Zach Werenski scored on a five-hole shot from the left circle to tie the game again.
CBJ 5, TBL 4
5:26 Yegor Chinakhov (6) - Cole Sillinger, Mathieu Olivier
The Blue Jackets took their first lead of the game off the stick of Yegor Chinakhov, who broke in alone for a shot at the left face-off dot after a backhand pass from Cole Sillinger.
TBL 5, CBJ 5
6:18 Cirelli (6) - Hagel, Kucherov
Cirelli scored the sixth goal of the second period 6:18 into the frame, tying the game again. Cirelli finished off a 3-on-1 with Hagel and Kucherov, burying the puck with a windup one-timer in the slot.
Shots on goal: CBJ 22, TBL 13
3rd Period
CBJ 6, TBL 5
10:37 Johnson (4) - Werenski, Monahan - SH
Johnson scored his second of the night on a shorthanded rush midway through the third period.
TBL 6, CBJ 6
11:23 Geekie (3) - Gage Goncalves, JJ Moser - PP
Geekie redirected a pass from Goncalves into the top left corner of the Columbus net, tying the game again less than a minute after the home team had reclaimed the lead. The assist gave Goncalves his first NHL point.
Overtime
CBJ 7, TBL 6
1:26 Werenski (6) - Sillinger, Provorov
Werenski earned his fifth point of the night with the overtime winner, shooting the puck into the top left corner for the win.
Total shots: CBJ 43, TBL 30
