Victor Hedman and Jake Guentzel had two goals and one assist apiece as the Tampa Bay Lightning bounced back a night after having their winning streak snapped, beating the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets 6-2 on Tuesday night.
In its sixth consecutive home victory, the Atlantic Division’s third-place club also got a goal and two assists from Nikita Kucherov plus a tally from Mitchell Chaffee. Brayden Point and Darren Raddysh had two assists.
Backup goaltender Jonas Johansson made 31 saves in his first outing since Jan. 28 as the Lightning finished 2-0-1 in the season series against the Blue Jackets. They are 9-1-1 since the start of February.
The Blue Jackets’ Zach Werenski scored at even strength and short-handed to match his own franchise record of 20 goals by a defenseman, but Columbus lost for the first time since the 4 Nations Face-Off break (4-1-0). Elvis Merzlikins stopped 34 shots.
Following a 39-game absence, winger Yegor Chinakhov (back) returned to the lineup.
After having their eight-game winning streak snapped 2-1 Monday at the Florida Panthers, the Lightning scored twice in 97 seconds early in the first period.
Chaffee redirected the first marker at the 30-second mark, extending his career high to 12 goals. Shortly thereafter, Guentzel hit Kucherov on a stretch pass, and the right wing beat Merzlikins with a shot under the right arm.
Werenski, who won the first meeting 7-6 with an overtime goal on Nov. 21, stole the puck from Nick Paul, raced into the offensive end and ripped a long shot at 17:20 for an unassisted goal.
Stationed at the back post, Guentzel made it 3-1 with a tap-in from Hedman 1:27 into the second. After a lengthy possession in the Columbus end, Hedman rifled a one-timer five minutes later for a three-goal advantage.
With Mathieu Olivier off for a double-minor roughing penalty, Werenski hit the 20-goal mark with a short-handed tally at 10:49. However, the visitors were outshot 18-8 in the frame.
In the third, Hedman notched a power-play goal before Guentzel hit an empty-netter.
–Field Level Media
