COLUMBUS, Ohio — After their season-opening loss Tuesday, the Lightning gave the Rangers credit, but knew they were far from their best.
The Lightning are so good at fixing their mistakes, and Friday against the Blue Jackets, they wanted to create more scoring chances, sustain offensive zone time and pepper pucks on net. Dating to the preseason, creating offense is something Tampa Bay has struggled to do. And Lightning coach Jon Cooper juggled his forward lines to provide a different look.
It ended up being an unlikely third line that provided the spark, scoring a pair of even-strength goals to go along with a power-play goal by Corey Perry, who moved up to the third line, to pace the Lightning to a 5-2 win at Nationwide Arena.
Ross Colton scored a go-ahead goal with 1:05 remaining in the first period to give the Lightning a 3-2 lead. He also assisted on defenseman Cal Foote’s goal 7:45 into the second, a score set up when Vladislav Namestnikov pushed the puck up to Foote, who jumped into the rush and combined with Colton on a nifty give-and-go.
The Lightning moved Brandon Hagel up to the first line at left wing and placed Steven Stamkos at center on the second line, but it was the combination of Colton, Namestnikov and Perry that combined for six points on the night.
The Blue Jackets’ blockbuster offseason signing, Johnny Gaudreau, scored his first Columbus goal just 2:21 into the game for a 1-0 lead, and while playing at a quick pace, the Lightning needed Andrei Vasilevskiy to bail them out of multiple 2-on-1 Blue Jackets breakaways.
The Lightning continued to focus on sustaining offense, and Perry tipped in a puck on net by Namestnikov to tie the score.
After Stamkos gave Tampa Bay the lead on a puck that went off a Columbus skate and into the net, Gustav Nyquist responded by scoring on another 2-on-1 rush.
Perry then made a heady play while the teams battled for possession in the Lightning offensive zone, tapping the puck with his stick coming off the boards to feed a streaking Colton, who unloaded a slap shot that beat Blue Jackets goaltender Daniil Tarasov.
Up two scores, the Lightning killed off a 5-on-3 power play for a 1:36 stretch that went into the beginning of the third period.
Stamkos scored his second goal of the night, deflecting Mikhail Sergachev’s puck on net past Tarasov five-hole 7:57 into the third.
