Another night, and another loss for the Tampa Bay Lightning. A team that just a month ago couldn’t lose, looks completely lost on the ice as they drop their sixth game out of their last seven. Despite scoring first, a three-goal second period by the Columbus Blue Jackets left the Lightning asking more questions as they kicked off their homestead with a 5-2 loss to the hard-charging Metro Division team.
Gage Goncalves scored in his return from injury and J.J. Moser cut the lead to one goal late in the second period, but that would be all of the offense the Bolts could muster on a day when Columbus held them to 18 shots on net. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 26-of-30 shots in the losing effort. Elvis Merzlikins wasn’t tested often, but came through when his team needed him with 16 saves.
Declan Carlile and Steve Santini entered the line-up due to Erik Cernak (day-to-day) and Darren Raddysh (family reasons) missing the game.
First Period:
For the first time in seven games, the Tampa Bay Lightning scored the first goal of the game. It held up through twenty minutes, so that was pretty nice. That doesn’t mean it was a clean period for the home team. It was a good period, and they got better as the period wore on, but there were still some issues out there.
Luckily for them, Andrei Vasilevskiy was ready to go from the start as he made several sharp saves, including a right pad save on Charlie Coyle that seemed destined for the back of the net. While the Lightning were much better in the middle of the ice, they did have a few turnovers in their own zone that led to chances for the Blue Jackets, the most egregious being at the end of the period where Conor Garland found himself alone in front of Vasilevskiy. The big netminder stuffed the attempt to keep it 1-0 in favor of the home team. According to the Lightning broadcast, Columbus had seven scoring chances off of turnovers. That, my friends, is too many.
After a game where they surrendered four power play goals, it was nice to see them kill off a couple of penalties early. The first one had some queasy moments, but Vasilevskiy was there to hold the line. The second penalty kill was much crisper as Columbus rarely had time with the puck in the zone.
Perhaps the team fed off of that a little as they scored shortly after the second penalty kill. It started with Nikita Kucherov entering the zone and snapping a pass over to Gage Goncalves who stopped it and left it on a tee for Victor Hedman. The Big Swede stepped into it and let a slapshot go. Goncalves, back in the line-up after missing four games, tipped it enough to put it over Elvis Merzlikins glove and into the back of the net.
Gage Goncalves [8] (Victor Hedman, Nikita Kucherov) 1-0
Second Period
If nothing else, the second period was a microcosm of the Lightning’s struggles since the break. Disjointed play, not enough pressure in the offensive zone, and coverage breakdowns. That’s all it took to turn a 1-0 lead into a 3-1 deficit. The Lightning continued to struggle to clear their zone cleanly and Columbus was able to bottle them up in the neutral zone and neutered any thought of a quick attack from the Bolts.
That being said, the first goal allowed was a bit unlucky. Ivan Provorov flicked a shot from the blue line that weaved its way through a crowd, nicked off of Victor Hedman (who had his man tied up), and past Vasilevskiy.
Ivan Provorov [8] (Danton Mateychuk, Charlie Coyle) 1-1
If the first goal was unlucky, the second goal was just ugly. Thirty seconds after the Blue Jackets tied it, they were right back in the zone. The Bolts were unable to shut it down quickly, nor were they able to clear it when they had a chance. Declan Carlile’s clearing attempt was knocked down and the coverage broke down.
Four players were caught chasing Kent Johnson, and when he threaded a backhand pass through to Conor Garland, no one was there to stop his shot and he beat Vasilevskiy cleanly.
Conor Garland [10] (Kent Johnson, Sean Monahan) 2-1 Blue Jackets
When a team is on their back foot it seems everything goes against them and so it went when Gage Goncalves was whistled for a dubious tripping call. Pretty much everyone watching the game knew what was coming next. Kirill Marchenko, who always scores against the Lightning, scored against the Lightning. He whipped a wicked wrist shot past a stickless Vasilevskiy, who had been frozen by a subtle little shoulder shimmy by Adam Fantilli.
Kirill Marchenko [24] (Adam Fantilli, Zach Werenski) Power Play, 3-1 Blue Jackets
Columbus was pressing the play and the Bolts were struggling to keep up. They picked up a gift when the Blue Jackets went to the box on back-to-back penalties. Tampa Bay didn’t pick up any goals with the extra skater, but they found their rhythm a bit, and spent a little time in the Columbus zone.
For the first time all period they started to press on the visitors a little. An offensive zone face-off win by Anthony Cirelli set J.J. Moser up for a clean look and he beat Merzlikins cleanly from the slot with a nice wrist shot.
J.J. Moser [7] (Anthony Cirelli) 3-2 Blue Jackets
Clipping the lead to just one heading into the locker room after struggling through most of the period gave the Lightning a little boost.
Third Period
You know what can kill a little momentum? An early penalty. Jake Guentzel was whistled for hooking in the defensive zone, and the Blue Jackets made them pay. It was Conor Garland once again.
Conor Garland [11] (Sean Monahan, Zach Werenski) Power Play, 4-2 Blue Jackets
4 GOALS IN 2 NIGHTS FOR CONOR GARLAND💥 CBJ x @FanaticsBook
— Columbus Blue Jackets (Bot) (@cbjbot.bsky.social) March 10, 2026 at 9:25 PM
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With a two-goal lead, Columbus was more than happy to chip the puck into the zone and get their forecheck going. With the Lightning struggling to clear their own zone for most of the night in the first place, that style of game just ground down the clock. On the few occasions the Lightning made it into the zone, there was no real space for them to operate and Columbus was able to clear pretty easily.
The Blue Jackets killed any hope for a comeback fairly quickly. Coach Cooper pulled Vasilevskiy with just under five minutes to go, but before the Lightning goalie could even make it to the bench, Dante Fabbro slung the puck down the ice from his own zone for the empty net goal to make it 5-2.
It was another frustrating night for the Lightning where they struggled in just about every aspect of the game. They allowed two more power play goals, they were out shot heavily, and their defensive zone breakdowns led to goals.
There is absolutely zero flow to their game right now. They have to find a way to work through these issues, and the sooner they do that the better.
