The Columbus Blue Jackets soundly defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning in Tampa Bay Friday night 5-1. From the opening face off to the final sound of the horn, the Columbus Blue Jackets dominated the game. Tampa Bay may have won the President’s Trophy for winning the regular season, but the past two games they played like the underdogs in this series.
Physical play and puck management were the hallmarks of the first period. The Jackets relentlessly attacked the Tampa Bay zone with a fierce forecheck. Columbus shot 10 shots on net to Tampa Bay’s 8. The Jackets drew first blood on a tip in by Cam Atkinson off of a shot by Matt Duchene at 5:15. Columbus scored again on a power play goal shot from the point by Zach Werenski at 11:44. Werenski was assisted by Duchene on the face off.
The Jackets picked up where they left off in the first period attacking the Tampa Bay net. Columbus’ defense cleared pucks and gave forwards the support up ice as they continued attacking the Lightning’s goal. Matt Duchene scored on a powerplay goal, making it 3-0 Columbus. Duchene was assisted by Atremi Panarin and Werenski at 1:28. Columbus out shot the Lightning 7-5 as the Tampa bay fans booed their team off the ice.
Tampa Bay’s lone goal was scored on a wrist shot by Mikhail Sergachev, assisted by JT Miller and Erik Cernak at 5:00 of the third period. The Jackets answered back with a goal by Riley Nash assisted by Boone Jenner at 9:06. Panarin lit the lamp a final time for the jackets making the final score 5-1.
Jackets head coach John Tortorella was pleased with the way his team played.
“I like the way our team played.” Said Tortorella “I think we’re getting better and better in situations. We’re going to have to keep on getting better. I thought we played better than game one. We’re going to have to play better in game three than we did in game two.”
Hockey is a team sport played by two teams for sixty minutes where the best team that night wins the game. The key to the Jackets victories over the past two games is teamwork. Columbus out skated, out played, and out shot the Tampa Bay Lightning in 120 minutes of hockey. Tortorella reminded the press that the series is not over.
“We were just trying to play. We respect the team we know how good they are, we’re just trying to go about our business the best way we think we need to this series.” Said Tortorella.
[WATCH: Blue Jackets vs. Lightning Game 2 highlights | Complete series coverage]
Can The Columbus Blue Jackets close out the series over the next two games, or will they fall apart like they did last season against the Washington Capitals? Can the Tampa Bay Lightning make a comeback and win the series, or will they be upset by the Columbus Blue Jackets? We shall see when the series continues Sunday night in Columbus at Nationwide Arena.
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