By Joe “Big Head” Coopersmith
GAME AT A GLANCE
THREE STARS 1st – A. Vasilevskiy, TBL (stopped 33-of-35 shots faced, W); 2nd – B. Jenner, CBJ (2-0-2); 3rd – B. Hagel, TBL (1-2-3)
GOAL SCORERS
Columbus: B. Jenner (14), PP – B. Jenner (15)
Tampa Bay: PP – N. Paul (14), A. Cirelli (11), PP – S. Stamkos (22), EN – B. Hagel (19)
GOALTENDERS
Columbus: E. Merzlikins (33 saves, L)
Tampa Bay: A. Vasilevskiy (33 saves, W)
SPECIAL TEAMS
Columbus PP: 1-for-3, 7 shots
Tampa Bay PP: 2-for-3, 5 shots
BLUE JACKETS TEAM NOTES
- The Blue Jackets fell to 2-3-1 in the last six games and 12-14-6 in the past 32 contests dating back to Nov. 22 following tonight’s loss to the Lightning.
- Each team has recorded a 4-2 victory at Nationwide Arena this season with the series finale on Apr. 9 at Tampa Bay.
- The winning team in the series has recorded four-plus goals in 11 of the last 12 games including nine-straight.
- With D Zach Werenski’s assist tonight, CBJ blueliners have now recorded 14-62-76 in the past 35 contests and 19-94-113 in 51 games this season.
- The Blue Jackets blocked 14 shots tonight and have now been credited with 705 blocked shots over the past 40 games dating back to Nov. 6 and have registered 914 blocked shots this season.
- Columbus has scored at least two goals in 33 of the last 40 games played dating back to Nov. 6.
- CBJ played their 13th of 21 Saturday games this season.
- Tonight’s attendance was a season-high sellout crowd of 18,876, marking the eighth sellout in the past 10 games at Nationwide Arena dating back to December 16.
BLUE JACKETS PLAYER NOTES
- C Boone Jenner notched his team-leading third multi-goal effort, while also collecting his fifth multi-point effort of the campaign, scoring both Blue Jackets’ goals tonight to give him 15-5-20 in 36 appearances this season. He now has 6-6-12 in 27 career outings against Tampa Bay, including points in his last three home contests vs. the club (3-2-5).
- LW Johnny Gaudreau recorded his team-leading sixth multi-assist and eighth multi-point game of the season with two assists to extend his assists steak to four games (0-5-5) and has now collected assists in seven of his past nine contests (0-9-9; overall, 7-27-34 in 51 GP). He improved to 7-12-19 in 18 career games vs. the Lightning, registering points in each of his last seven home games (6-5-11) and eight of nine in his career (6-6-12).
- D Zach Werenski tallied an assist for his second consecutive game (0-2-2) and has collected assists in four of his last five contests (0-4-4) and 11 of his last 18 outings (0-14-14; overall, 1-28-29 in 39 GP). He now has 4-8-12 in 20 career contests against Tampa Bay, including 3-6-9 with points in eight of his last nine games vs. the club.
- RW Kirill Marchenko registered an assist to give him 11-6-17 in his past 32 contests (overall, 15-11-26 in 49 GP). He improved to 3-1-4 in four career outings vs. the Lightning, recording points in all four of his games against the club.
BLUE JACKETS POST-GAME AUDIO INTERVIEWS
HC Pascal Vincent | F Johnny Gaudreau | F Boone Jenner | D Zach Werenski
LIGHTNING POST-GAME AUDIO INTERVIEWS
HC Jon Cooper | F Anthony Cirelli | F Steven Stamkos
BLUE JACKETS UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Sunday, Feb. 11 12pm ET Practice – OhioHealth Ice Haus
Monday, Feb. 12 11am ET Practice – OhioHealth Ice Haus
Tuesday, Feb. 13 7pm ET at Ottawa Senators – Canadian Tire Centre
COURTESY BLUE JACKETS COMMUNICATIONS
