National Hockey League
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Tampa Bay 7, Columbus 4
When: 7:00 PM ET, Saturday, November 8, 2014
Where: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Referees: Dan O'Halloran, Mike Leggo
Linesmen: Brad Kovachik, Tim Nowak
Attendance: 14892

Lightning 7, Blue Jackets 4: Tyler Johnson scored a pair of goals while Ryan Callahan added a tally and two assists as visiting Tampa Bay held off struggling Columbus for its fifth consecutive victory.

J.T. Brown notched a goal and an assist while Brian Boyle, Cedric Paquette and defenseman Anton Stralman also scored for the Lightning, who led 4-0 after one period. Jonathan Drouin added a pair of assists and Evgeni Nabokov turned aside 28 shots for Tampa Bay, which allowed three power-play goals before Johnson’s empty-netter with 51 seconds left sealed the win.

Scott Hartnell recorded his second two-goal performance in two nights while Ryan Johansen and Nick Foligno each netted one tally and set up another, with the latter pulling the Blue Jackets within 6-4 at 5:10 of the third period. Anton Forsberg gave up four goals on 15 shots before Curtis McElhinney made 20 saves in relief for Columbus, which is winless in eight games (0-7-1).

Brown deflected defenseman Jason Garrison's shot and flipped in the rebound 5:46 into the game and Paquette added another tally 21 seconds later, roofing the rebound of Drouin’s shot. Stralman chipped in a rebound on the power play at 12:31 and Boyle knocked home a nifty pass from Brenden Morrow 2:20 later to cap the first-period barrage.

Callahan was credited with a goal 5:38 into the second for a 5-1 lead when the puck got stuck in his skate blade after Valtteri Filppula’s shot and fell into the net after he was knocked down. Hartnell countered with his second power-play goal at 8:10, but Johnson converted a cross-ice pass from Nikita Kucherov during a man advantage less than two minutes later to make it 6-2.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Brown’s goal ended a 55-game drought that dated back to Dec. 23, 2013, when he recorded a pair of tallies against Florida. … Columbus' Jack Johnson served the second contest of his three-game suspension for an illegal hit to the head of Carolina’s Jiri Tlusty on Monday while fellow D James Wisniewski collected three assists. … Since Callahan was acquired at the trade deadline last season, the Lightning are 10-0-0 when he scores a goal. ... Kucherov was awarded a penalty shot after being held from behind on a breakaway by Columbus D Tim Erixon but shot the puck wide.
Top Game Performances
 
Tampa Bay   Columbus
Ryan Callahan 3 Points James Wisniewski 3
Tyler Johnson 2 Goals Scott Hartnell 2
Ryan Callahan 2 Assists James Wisniewski 3
Tyler Johnson 1 Power Play Goals Scott Hartnell 2
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Evgeni Nabokov .875 Save Percentage Curtis McElhinney .909
Evgeni Nabokov 28 Saves Curtis McElhinney 20
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Tampa Bay 38 7 2-3 2-5 12 27
Columbus 32 4 3-5 1-3 8 38
Upcoming Games
  • Columbus will play their next game on the road against Washington. The Blue Jackets have a W/L % of .400 after a win and .222 after a loss.
  • Tampa Bay will play their next game on the road against Detroit. The Lightning have a W/L % of .600 after a win and 1.000 after a loss.