Blue Jackets Fall 5-2 to the Tampa Bay Lightning in Their Home Opener Despite a Goal from Johnny Gaudreau

By Coby Maeir on October 14, 2022 at 9:46 pm
Johnny Gaudreau and Erik Cernak
Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
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No home-ice advantage for the Blue Jackets tonight.

Recap

The goals were aplenty in the Blue Jackets' home opener. 

The scoring started early, as just 2:21 into the game, Johnny Gaudreau scored his first goal as a Blue Jacket. Boone Jenner got the goal started with a strong forecheck that led to a nice pass from Justin Danforth from behind the net to Gaudreau.

The Jackets nearly doubled their lead with a pair of short-handed point-blank chances by Eric Robinson and Sean Kuraly with 8:36 and 6:41 remaining, respectively, but Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped both shots.

Tampa eventually converted on the power play when Corey Perry cleaned up a rebound in front of the net with 5:52 remaining. 

Lightning struck twice as Steven Stamkos gave Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead just 73 seconds later after his centering pass deflected off Adam Boqvist's skate an past Daniil Tarasov.

Tampa's lead lasted all of 34 seconds, as Kent Johnson's backhand pass off the glass sprung Gus Nyquist on a two-on-one where he scored his first of the season from the right circle.

With 65 seconds remaining in the period, Tampa Bay reclaimed the lead on a Ross Colton wrist shot from the right circle that found the top shelf of the net. The Bolts took a 3-2 lead into the first intermission.

  1 2 3 F
BLUE JACKETS 2 0 0 2
LIGHTNING 3 1 1 5

The Lightning doubled their lead nearly eight minutes into the second period after Cal Foote finished off a give-and-go sequence with Colton. 

The Jackets had their best chance of the period with 1:20 remaining as they went on a 5-on-3 power play. They managed to put three shots on net but Vasilevskiy was up to the challenge. Tampa held strong and took a 4-2 lead into the second intermission.

The Lightning took a commanding 5-2 lead just under eight minutes into the third period after Stamkos scored his second goal of the night via a deflection. 

The 5-2 score would hold and the Lightning picked up their first win of the season and handed the Jackets their second consecutive loss to start the season.

Stats

  • Shots on Goal: TBL 39-28 CBJ
  • Faceoff%: TBL 29%-71% CBJ
  • Power play: TBL 1/2, CBJ 0/4
  • Giveaways: TBL 4-5 CBJ
  • 5v5 xG (via naturalstattrick.com): TBL 2.9-0.86 CBJ
  • 5v5 shots on goal: TBL 37-16 CBJ
  • 5v5 scoring chances: TBL 35-11 CBJ

Injury Update

The Blue Jackets were without Patrik Laine, who will miss the next three-to-four weeks with an elbow sprain, for the first time this season. 

Next Up

The Blue Jackets are back in action Saturday night when they'll take on the St. Louis Blues on the road. The game starts at 8 p.m. ET and will be on Bally Sports Ohio and 97.1 FM The Fan.

Columbus will return home on Tuesday night to face the Vancouver Canucks at 7 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on Bally Sports Ohio and 97.1 The Fan.

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