In Columbus, Nikita Kucherov led the Tampa Bay Lightning to their sixth straight win, 5-1, over the Blue Jackets.
Kucherov struck for two goals in the win.
Brayden Point struck twice in Bolts win in Columbus – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 39 saves to get the win and just missed a third straight shutout.
“On a night when the team’s not at its best, a big-time player came to play, and our goaltender kept us in,” Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. “We felt pretty fortunate to get two points tonight.”
Lukas Sedlak scored the only Jackets’ goal with less than two minutes remaining in the game.
“We had a really good first period. We definitely dominated that period,” Columbus forward Kole Sherwood said. “They got two lucky bounces and capitalized on them.”
Columbus dropped to 32-22-3.
“I’m frustrated for the team,” Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said. “Our first period was probably our best period of hockey we’ve played all year long. I’m not crazy about Nick’s turnover. Again, you just can’t lose your patience in a game like that.
“You’re down 2-0 after the way we played, you still have to stick with it.”
Brayden Point also scored twice and Steven Stamkos added a single marker for the Bolts.
[WATCH: All Lightning vs. Blue Jackets highlights]
Joonas Korpisalo made 15 saves in the loss.
“We got a couple of scoring chances, but we didn’t get anything special in the offensive zone. We didn’t get that many grade A chances, but we still have to score,” the Blue Jackets’ Lukas Sedlak said after the game.
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