Good day to start winning: Blue Jackets at Lightning Preview

Game Sixty-Three: Columbus Blue Jackets (32-21-10) at Tampa Bay Lightning (39-19-4)

Time: 7:00 PM EST

Location: Benchmark International Arena, Ten minutes from La Segunda Bakery, a Tampa institution since 1915

TV/Stream/Radio: The Spot, FDSNOH, ESPN+, 102.5 FM, Lightning App

Odds: Lightning – 238

Know the Opponents: The Cannon

Let’s see….why is today a good day to start a new winning streak? First off, the Lightning are back at home after a tough road trip. Second, they’re catching the Columbus Blue Jackets on a back-to-back. Third, well, it would be nice to start getting that separation back in the standings.

After starting the post-Olympic run of games with a nice eight-point lead over the second-place Canadiens and Sabres, and an eleven-point lead over the Bruins who were in the second Wild Card spot, the Bolts have been booted from first place by the Sabres and seen the differential between them and the Bruins slip to six points. The Lightning are still going to make the playoffs, most likely. Still, it would be nice to start finding a way to pick up points instead of giving them away.

Speaking of finding ways to pick up points, the Blue Jackets come into tonight’s game as the first team looking in from the outside of the playoff picture. They are currently two points behind the Bruins for that last postseason spot and three points behind the Islanders for the third position in the Metro Division. They are also on a two-game losing streak, however, both of their losses (in fact their last three losses overall ) have come in overtime. In their last ten games, they have only one regulation loss.

They were mild buyers at the deadline, acquiring Conor Garland from the Vancouver Canucks for a 2028 second-round pick and a 2026 third-round pick. Their run since adding Rick Bowness as the head coach moved them from sellers to contenders as the young core of players gets a little taste of a playoff run.

Since Bowness took over on January 12, the Blue Jackets are 13-2-3 and scoring a robust 3.83 goals per game during that stretch. Charlie Coyle (9 goals, 15 assists) is leading the way while Mathieu Olivier, more known for being one as one of the best heavyweights in the league, is right there behind him with 8 goals. The always dangerous Kirill Marchenko, who has 13 points (6 goals, 7 assists) in 10 career games against the Lightning, has scored 7 goals during that stretch.

It’s going to be another grind for the Lightning, who, if nothing else, at least got their offense going at the end of their road trip with 12 goals against Toronto and Buffalo. While Nikita Kucherov had a hand in 7 of those tallies (2 goals, 5 assists) the Bolts spread things out a bit as there were 9 different skaters recording a goal in those two matches.

Offense is fun, but it would provide a lot less stress in Coach Cooper’s life if they figured things out defensively. While they have been better in fits and starts, there are still too many mistakes in defensive zone coverage and not enough solid play in the neutral zone. The Sabres were credited with five goals off of the rush on Sunday, and, quite frankly, that’s too many. The Lightning have to get back to shutting things down in the neutral zone, or standing up at the blue line to force their opponents to start dumping the puck into the zone.

The best way to do that is to limit turnovers and grind shifts out in the offensive zone. They were much better at puck battles against Buffalo, and their 5v5 game was actually pretty decent, they just spent too much time short-handed.

For a team that needs to sort out their defensive issues, having two of their roster mainstays out of the line-up isn’t a good start. Darren Raddysh is attending memorial services for his father while Erik Cernak only played one period against the Sabres before leaving with an apparent injury. The Bolts recalled Steven Santini this morning.

Gage Goncalves was also on the ice this morning, skating on a line with Brayden Point and Jake Guentzel, so it appears he is ready to return to the line-up. Oliver Bjorkstrand slides down to play with Conor Geekie and Corey Perry in order to accommodate the change.

With 20 games to go, the Lightning have time to sort out their issues in time for the playoffs. They just need to start doing it sooner rather than later if they want to stay near the top of the conference standings.

Potential Lines

Tampa Bay Lightning

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Columbus Blue Jackets

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