In Tampa, Curtis McElhinney made 24 saves and the Lightning defeated the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets, 3-1 on Thursday.
“Obviously it’s been a little up and down the last couple of games for us, trying to find our groove,” McElhinney said. “Nice for me to get in there and get a win for the team, a big win for us moving forward.”
Blake Coleman picked up two goals for Tampa.
“Guys like to score, that’s the bottom line,” Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. “Good for Blake. He’s, like [Ondrej] Palat too, they expect a lot from themselves. It’s good to see the guys working hard and getting rewarded.”
Seth Jones was the lone goal scorer for the Blue Jackets, he staked Columbus to an early 1-0 lead.
“I’m going to take that shot when it’s there,” Jones said. “I have no problem shooting the puck in the middle. One-timers like that … you don’t get those opportunities too often right from the middle. They made a mistake and we took advantage of it.”
Ondrej Palat picked up the game-winner in the third period.
“Always feels kind of nice and I haven’t scored for a while (13 games),” Palat said. “I was just trying to stick with it and work hard. You know, keep it simple and shoot the puck. I’m happy it went in.”
The Lightning improved to 31-14-2.
“It was just a weird game, the first period nothing was going on,” Cooper said. “But [Tortorella] has been in this league for a long time and he’s a [heck] of a coach. A lot of regulars are out of his lineup and he’s got the guys fighting hard. They are a tough team to play against.”
Elvis Merzlikins made 25 saves in the loss.
“I think we played good … I’m tired of losing the games,” Merzlikins said. “I know we’re trying, but this is getting embarrassing. It is what it is. I’m going to be honest with you, it’s painful sitting in that locker room. And trust me, we are trying, we seriously are trying. We didn’t give up.”
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