GAME AT A GLANCE
THREE STARS
1st – Steven Stamkos, TBL (2-0-2); 2nd – Ross Colton, TBL (1-1-2); 3rd – Corey Perry, TBL (1-1-2)
GOAL SCORERS
Columbus: J. Gaudreau (1), G. Nyquist (1)
Tampa Bay: PP – C. Perry (1), S. Stamkos (2), R. Colton (1), C. Foote (1), S. Stamkos (3)
GOALTENDERS
Columbus: D. Tarasov (34 saves, L)
Tampa Bay: A. Vasilevskiy (26 saves, W)
SPECIAL TEAMS
Columbus PP: 0-for-4, 9 shots
Tampa Bay PP: 1-for-2, 2 shots
BLUE JACKETS NOTE OF THE GAME
« LW Johnny Gaudreau notched his first goal as a Blue Jacket (1-0-1 in 2 GP) to give the club a 1-0 lead 2:21 into the contest. He now has 6-10-16 in 14 career games against the Lightning, including a five-game home points streak (5-3-8).
BLUE JACKETS TEAM NOTES
- The club fell to 8-10-1-3 all-time in home openers, moving to 1-1-1 in its last three.
- Tonight was the second time in three seasons that the Blue Jackets opened their home schedule against the Lightning, previously falling 3-2 in overtime on Jan. 21, 2021 (2020-21 season).
- Attendance for tonight’s game was a sellout crowd of 18, 889, making it the fourth largest crowd for a home opener in franchise history.
- CBJ now have points in five of the last eight games in the series at Nationwide Arena (3-3-2).
- The winning team has scored four-plus goals in five-straight meetings and seven of the past eight.
- The Blue Jackets killed off one-of-two of Tampa Bay’s power play opportunities and have now killed off 3-of-4 opponent power play opportunities in their first two game of the campaign (75.0 pct.).
- CBJ plays its first of 16 back-to-back set of games this weekend hosting Tampa Bay tonight and visiting St. Lois tomorrow.
BLUE JACKETS PLAYER NOTES
« The Blue Jackets were led by Johnny Gaudreau in shots (5), Mathieu Olivier in hits (4), Mathieu Olivier, Andrew Peeke and Vladislav Gavrikov in blocked shots (2) and Zach Werenski in TOI (22:57).
« LW Gustav Nyquist scored his first goal of the season and now has 10-9-19 in 28 career games vs. Tampa Bay, including 5-2-7 in his last six home contests.
« RW Justin Danforth recorded his first point of the season with the first assist on Gaudreau’s first period goal (0-1-1 in 2 GP).
« C Boone Jenner registered his first point of the season with the second assist on Gaudreau’s first period goal (0-1-1 in 2 GP).
« C Kent Johnson tallied a point in his season debut with an assist on Nyquist’s first period goal.
« D Erik Gudbranson recorded his first point as a Blue Jacket with the second assist on Nyquist’s first period goal (0-1-1 in 2 GP).
BLUE JACKETS UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Saturday, Oct. 15 at St. Louis Blues – 8pm ET at Enterprise Center
Sunday, Oct. 16 No Practice Scheduled
Monday, Oct. 17 11am Practice at Nationwide Arena
COURTESY CBJ COMMUNICATIONS
