- The Canadian Press
Coleman scores 2, Lightning beat Blue Jackets 3-1
TAMPA, Fla. — Ondrej Palat scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period and Curtis McElhinney stopped 24 shots, leading the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 3-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night. Blake Coleman had two goals, including an empty netter with 25 seconds left for Tampa Bay. Seth Jones scored for the Blue Jackets. Elvis Merzlikins stopped 25 shots for Columbus, which is winless in its last eight games (0-7-1). The teams play again Sunday in Tampa. Palat scored the eventual winner by skating to the right circle, taking a feed from Alex Killorn and snapping off a quick shot to the top far corner at 8:14. After Merzlikins denied Ryan McDonagh on a backdoor play at 11:35, Columbus went on the power play at 8:57 on a cross checking call to Palat. Less than a minute into the man advantage, Jones delivered a slap shot from the centre point that hit off the blade of Alex Killorn’s stick and deflected past McElhinney at 9:36. It marked the first shot on goal for the Blue Jackets, who went on to hold Tampa Bay without a shot on goal for the rest of the period. The Lightning pulled even in the second period when Yanni Gourde picked up a puck in the neutral zone that rolled off the stick of Patrick Laine, gained the blue line and fed a cross-ice pass to Coleman. After settling the puck, Coleman fired a slap shot that hit off the bottom of Merzlikins’ glove hand and bounced in the net at 14:51 SAVARD FACES FORMER TEAMMATES Tampa Bay acquired defenceman David Savard from the Columbus Blue Jackets on April 10. Thursday was the first time Savard faced the team he spent his entire career with, appearing in 597 games over 10 seasons. “It’s a little weird,’’ Savard said. “But it’s also exciting to get to see them on the ice. ... I spent quite a bit of time there. We’re still in a little bit of a battle for us and it’s an important game, but it is still a little special to play the Jackets.’’ DOMI RETURNS Columbus centre Max Domi returned to the lineup after sitting out as a healthy scratch in the previous two games. In his last game against Dallas, Domi took a misconduct call along with a high sticking and slashing call on the same play and finished a minus-4 for the game. “I just want him to try to help us win a hockey game,’’ Columbus head coach John Torotrella said when asked what he wanted to see out of Domi. ___ More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports Erik Erlendsson, The Associated Press
- Raleigh News and Observer
Hurricanes defenseman Brady Skjei in concussion protocol. How long will he be out?
Skjei was injured Tuesday against Tampa Bay after a hit from behind from Blake Coleman of the Lightning.
- The Canadian Press
Columbus takes on Tampa Bay on 7-game slide
Columbus Blue Jackets (15-24-9, eighth in the Central Division) vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (30-14-2, third in the Central Division) Tampa, Florida; Thursday, 7 p.m. EDT FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Lightning -250, Blue Jackets +202; over/under is 0 BOTTOM LINE: Columbus heads into the matchup with Tampa Bay as losers of seven in a row. The Lightning are 30-14-2 in division games. Tampa Bay is fifth in the NHL averaging 3.3 goals per game, led by Brayden Point with 20. The Blue Jackets are 15-24-9 against opponents in the Central Division. Columbus ranks 30th in the league with 29.0 shots per game and is averaging 2.4 goals. Tampa Bay took down Columbus 6-4 in the last meeting between these teams on April 8. Ryan McDonagh scored two goals for the Lightning in the win. TOP PERFORMERS: Victor Hedman leads the Lightning with 42 points, scoring eight goals and adding 34 assists. Ondrej Palat has six assists over the last 10 games for Tampa Bay. Jack Roslovic leads the Blue Jackets with 20 total assists and has 30 points. Cam Atkinson has one goal and five assists over the last 10 games for Columbus. LAST 10 GAMES: Lightning: 5-5-0, averaging 2.6 goals, 4.6 assists, 3.6 penalties and 8.9 penalty minutes while giving up three goals per game with an .899 save percentage. Blue Jackets: 1-8-1, averaging 2.1 goals, 3.6 assists, 3.7 penalties and 10.7 penalty minutes while giving up four goals per game with an .881 save percentage. INJURIES: Lightning: None listed. Blue Jackets: None listed. ___ The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar. The Associated Press
