Blue Jackets roadtrip continues with stop in Tampa Bay on Thursday
The Columbus Blue Jackets grueling three game road trip continues Thursday with a date against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Columbus saw its modest two game winning streak halted on Tuesday with a 4-0 defeat at thehands of the Florida Panthers.
Former Jackets netminder Sergei Bobrovsky was masterful in the shutout, stopping all 22 shots that he faced against his former team. The shutout was Bob’s 38th in the NHL and his first since March 31st,2022.
His opposite number and current CBJ goaltender Elvis Merzlikins also turned aside 22 shots but couldn’t get his offense to help him out.
"It's all about putting the puck in the back of the net," Blue Jackets forward Sean Kuraly said. "When you don't do that, it's going to make it tough. It's a good team. They finished their chances and there's some we would have liked to have tonight."
It’s another year where the Lightning look like they could once again be Stanley Cup contenders. Much of the core that fans have come to know, and love remains intact. Notable names like Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov, and Andrei Vasilevskiy are still around as it doesn’t appear their window for winning championships will be closing any time soon.
Tampa comes into Thursday’s contest healthy and in the midst of a three-game winning streak and have one five of their last six contests. TheBolts are outscoring the opposition by a 25-13 margin which is an average of 4.17 goals to 2.17 goals per contest.
Not great numbers to hear, particularly for a strugglingJackets defense.
Columbus looks to counter with another stellar performance from Johnny Gaudreau. “Johnny Hockey” has an impressive stat line over the last16 games going 5-17-22. Forward Jack Roslovic also continues to thrive with a2-6-8 line in his last seven appearances.
The young guns are stepping up for the CBJ as well.
Forward Kent Johnson has six goals and 14 points which has him tied for fifth and seventh among NHL rookies. Kirill Marchenko is the 22nd Blue Jacket to score this season. His goal on Sunday afternoon earned him that honor. 17 CBJ players have enjoyed multi-goal games this season.
Puck drops from Amerlie Arena in Tampa Bay, Florida at 7 PM.The game can be seen locally on Bally Sports.