No success in the sunshine state.
The Blue Jackets failed to pick up a point in Florida as they fell to the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1 behind third-period goals from Brayden Point and Brandon Hagel Thursday night at Amalie Arena.
1st Period
Pierre-Eduoard Bellemare opened the scoring on a wrist shot from the top of the left circle on the rush at 3:57.
#GoBolts Bellemare goal pic.twitter.com/IgriaQCZA2
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) December 16, 2022
| 1 | 2 | 3 | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BLUE JACKETS | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| TB LIGHTNING | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
Tampa Bay nearly doubled its lead at 9:32 when Daniil Tarasov robbed Nikita Kucherov who should have scored on an open night from the right circle on the Tampa power play.
#CBJ Tarasov save pic.twitter.com/QzWlfgfEAO
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) December 16, 2022
The Jackets nearly tied the game on the power play at 12:49 when Kirill Marchenko beat Erik Cernak and drove to the net but was denied in-tight by Brian Elliott.
Anthony Cirelli nearly doubled the Lightning lead after dancing around Erik Gudbranson on a dash to the net but was hooked by Tim Berni which sent his backhand attempt wide at 13:44.
The Lightning took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission along with a 12-6 edge in shots on goal.
2nd Period
Marchenko tied the game at 3:10 when he fired a wrist shot from the left circle past the far side of Elliott after receiving a cross-ice feed from Cole Sillinger.
#CBJ Marchenko (2) goal pic.twitter.com/nB0dCWB6SU
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) December 16, 2022
Steven Stamkos had a solid chance to score at 12:48 after a breakaway chance from Nick Paul was thwarted by Vladislav Gavrikov and Tarasov, but was denied by Tarasov's glove from the left circle.
Scary Tarry strikes again pic.twitter.com/qz2IhuSX98
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) December 16, 2022
With Tampa Bay on the power play late in the period, Tarasov made saves at 18:25, 18:35, and 18:48, to keep the game tied at one.
The teams headed into the third period knotted up at one with the Lightning holding a 20-17 edge in shots on goal.
3rd Period
Johnny Gaudreau had a chance to give the Jackets the lead at 2:29 on a drive to the net but fired a backhand shot from in-tight over the crossbar.
Brayden Point gave the Lightning the lead at 9:02 after Brandon Hagel's pass to Point from the right wing side to the left doorstep was deflected off of Tarasov's pads by Marcus Bjork, and Point was there to score.
#GoBolts Point goal pic.twitter.com/H88QddUUBo
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) December 16, 2022
Hagel extended the Bolts' lead on a wrist shot from the right slot following a neutral zone giveaway by the Blue Jackets at 13:36.
#GoBolts Hagel goal pic.twitter.com/27DXcizTWQ
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) December 16, 2022
Hagel scored again, this time on an empty net at 17:19, putting the nail in the coffin.
The Jackets fell 4-1 and dropped to 10-17-2 on the season.
Stats
- Shots on Goal: CBJ 25-29 TB
- Faceoff %: CBJ 52-48 TB
- Power play: CBJ 0/1-0/3 TB
- Takeaways: CBJ 13-19 TB
- Giveaways: CBJ 8-12 TB
- Blocked shots: CBJ 18-17 TB
- Hits: CBJ 37-23 TB
-
5-on-5 stats (via naturalstattrick.com):
- Expected Goals (xG): CBJ 1.51-2.29 TB
- Chances (CF): CBJ 48-46 TB
- Shots (SF): CBJ 23-21 TB
- Scoring Chances (SCF): CBJ 20-30 TB
- High-Danger Chances (HDCF): CBJ 6-14 TB
Injury Update
Eric Robinson missed tonight's game with an illness. No players left tonight's game with injuries.
Next Up
The Blue Jackets travel to Boston to take on the Bruins Saturday at 1 p.m. ET on NHL Network, Bally Sports Ohio, and 97.1 FM The Fan.
The club returns to Columbus for a Monday night game against the Dallas Stars at 7 p.m. ET on Bally Sports Ohio and 97.1 FM The Fan.
