The Backcheck: Lightning split back-to-back with blazing start Tuesday

The Tampa Bay Lightning didn’t love the way they started Monday’s game against the Florida Panthers, but the Bolts more than made up for it with a roaring start on Tuesday.

Tampa Bay fell 2-1 to the Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena on Monday despite a late push, but the team responded with a 6-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets when they returned home to AMALIE Arena on Tuesday.

Tampa Bay is now 36-21-4 this season.

Lightning coach Jon Cooper liked how his team responded to Monday’s loss by earning two points on Tuesday.

“At some point, it's probably not going to go your way, and it didn't last night,” Cooper said. "It's always tough when a team (Columbus) is waiting for you in your hometown when you're playing on the road. So it was a big test for us against a team that was playing well, and the guys did a great job tonight.”

The Lightning host the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Late push not enough in Monday loss to Florida

Tampa Bay was never truly out of Monday night’s loss to the Florida Panthers, but a late bounce didn’t fall in favor of the Lightning to end the team’s eight-game win streak with a 2-1 falter to their cross-state opponent.

Florida forward Aleksander Barkov scored two goals in the second period, including one on the power play, to hand the home team a 2-0 advantage at Amerant Bank Arena.

Lightning forward Brayden Point’s 32nd goal of the season came 2 minutes, 7 seconds into period three to make it 2-1, but a flurry of late chances never crossed the Florida goal line.

Tampa Bay’s Anthony Cirelli appeared to have the tying goal in the third period, but the puck flew into the crossbar and stayed out. Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky also stopped a late shorthanded breakaway chance for Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh.

Then in the final 10 seconds of the game, a Victor Hedman point shot hit the post and rattled through the blue paint. It was eventually cleared as the final buzzer sounded, sealing the 2-1 win for Florida.

“We just reeled off eight in a row. You can’t do that without some things going your way, and at some point the bounce is going to bounce out instead of in,” Cooper said. “On a couple occasions, especially in the third period, that’s what happened. I liked our effort. I liked the way the boys answered the bell in the third period and threw everything at ‘em. Sometimes you’ve gotta tip your cap to the other team and the goalie.”

Barkov scored 9:02 into the second period on a shot from the left faceoff circle, and his spinning shot on the power play made it 2-0 with 4:44 left in the middle frame.

Point didn’t wait long to get Tampa Bay on the scoresheet in period three, when he collected his own rebound and buried a backhand shot to halve the Panthers’ lead.

“We figured we were in the game,” Point said of the push. “Down two going into the third is not a great spot to be, but we knew we weren't playing our best. The third was a step in the right direction, had some chances, they just didn't go in.”

Tampa Bay has found success on the power play for much of the 2024-25 season, but that group couldn’t find a goal on Monday and finished 0-for-7 despite some in-game adjustments to personnel and setups.

“That was a part of it, there’s no question,” Cooper said. "We had 10+ minutes of power-play time and we can’t tuck one, so that ultimately was probably the difference.”

Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy had to be sharp, particularly in the second period when the Panthers opened with extended time in the offensive zone and outshot the Lightning 11-7.

Vasilevskiy finished with 27 saves, the same number as Bobrovsky.

Despite Tampa Bay’s eight-game winning streak coming to a close, forward Nick Paul acknowledged that the Lightning got better over their run.

“It was two good teams going at it,” Paul said. “I thought we could’ve had a little more energy in the first and second, but we came back and gave ourselves a chance to win that game. Off the post at the end, so that’s just what happens. Just gotta turn the page and look forward to tomorrow.”

Benjamin’s Three Stars:

1. Aleksander Barkov, FLA (2 goals)

2. Sergei Bobrovsky, FLA (27 saves, win)

3. Andrei Vasilevskiy, TBL (27 saves)

Fast start powers Bolts to Tuesday victory

The Lightning had the best start of any NHL team this season on Tuesday, and that quick attack translated into a 6-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets at AMALIE Arena.

The Lightning improved to 36-21-4 with the victory, the team’s ninth win in its last 10 games.

Tampa Bay led 2-0 just one minute, 37 seconds into play on Tuesday. Tuesday marked the fastest two goals by any NHL team to start a game this season, beating a two-team tie between the Washington Capitals and Utah Hockey Club (1 minute, 42 seconds).

Mitchell Chaffee got things started for Tampa Bay, needing only 30 seconds to find the back of the net with his 12th goal of the season.

Chaffee fought his way to the netfront, deflecting home an Emil Lilleberg shot from the left point after the latter accepted a pass from defensive partner Darren Raddysh.

One minute, seven seconds later, forward Jake Guentzel made a three-line pass from his own end to feed Nikita Kucherov at the far blue line. Kucherov bruised in on the breakaway and buried his top-shelf shot to make it 2-0.

"You're not going to score two in the first minute and a half every single game,” Hedman said, “but you can start on your toes and get pucks to the net, and I think we did the same in the second period. We went up two quick ones there and hemmed them in. When you do that, good things happen.”

Columbus defenseman Zach Werenski scored on the rush with 2:40 left in the first period to get Columbus on the board before another quick attack by the Lightning in period two extended the lead.

Guentzel buried a backdoor deflection off a Hedman shot 1:27 into the second period, and Hedman gave the home team a 4-1 lead at the 6:26 mark when his windup shot from the left wall caromed off a Columbus player and beat goalie Elvis Merzlikins into the top corner of the net.

An apparent Point power-play goal was overturned due to the play being offside midway through the second period. Werenski’s second goal of the game minutes later once again halved the Lightning lead, this time to 4-2.

Hedman’s third point of the night and 50th of the season made it 5-2 when his one-timer from atop a Lightning power play beat Merzlikins with 10:16 left in the game.

Guentzel closed the scoring with his second goal of the game, this one finding the empty net with 2:07 left for a 6-2 final score.

Hedman and Guentzel each finished with two goals and an assist to co-lead the Lightning in scoring alongside Kucherov (goal, two assists).

Tampa Bay goalie Jonas Johansson made 30 saves on 32 shots for a .938 save percentage and the victory in his first game action since Jan. 28 after returning from injury.

Tampa Bay’s quick start offensively was especially important in the second half of a back-to-back, Raddysh said.

“We wanted a good start. We wanted to get our legs (going) with the back to back here. We did that on our first two shifts and we just kind of went from there.”

Hedman also liked Tampa Bay’s start. After falling in a tight, emotional rivalry game Monday, Tuesday’s win was about sticking to the process.

"We didn't let that affect us going into tonight,” Hedman said of the night prior. “And I'm very happy with the way we responded.”

Benjamin’s Three Stars:

1. Victor Hedman, TBL (2 goals, assist)

2. Jake Guentzel, TBL (2 goals, assist)

3. Zach Werenski, CBJ (2 goals)