PREVIEW: Blue Jackets try to keep finding their game in Tampa

BLUE JACKETS (14-15-8) at LIGHTNING (24-9-2)

There would be no focus on the playoff race or any of the bells and whistles surrounding the team. Simply put, the team would try to play what Tortorella dubs "the right way," with the chips falling where they may at that point.
So far, so good, after the Blue Jackets largely did that Tuesday night in a 3-1 win over first-place Tampa Bay.
"I think it just shows us the right way to win hockey games," captain Nick Foligno said. "We're chasing consistency right now. Absolutely we're worried about wins and losses, but we're trying to find our game and who we are in a game, and I thought yesterday was a step in the right direction.
"But again, can we do it again? Can we do it three times in a row, four times in a row? That's what the good teams do. We've had an identity here for a while and lost it this year, and that's what we're trying to get back."
Coming into the season, the Blue Jackets did try to change things a bit with their playing style. A year ago, playing "above the puck" was the key phrase for Tortorella, as after the team lost high-scoring forward Artemi Panarin and standout goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, the strategy was to play a team-based, hard-checking game that cut down on opposing offensive chances.
That worked defensively -- Columbus had the third-best defense in the league, allowing it to make the postseason again -- but the team struggled to score goals. So this year, Tortorella and his staff wanted to try to bring more scoring out of the squad, hoping the defensive structure that led the team a year ago had become ingrained the team's DNA enough to try to open up the offense a bit.
But so far this year, as Foligno said, the Blue Jackets have been searching for an identity, and with a number of new players in key roles, Columbus has struggled to find the secret sauce. So with that in mind, and with the team on the wrong side of the playoff line, Columbus has gone back to basics.
"With the new personnel, I think we've given them too much," Tortorella said. "I think there were too many things that need to be fixed, and you can't fix them all, so we're going to try to simplify things and get back to defending the proper way and being hard the proper way, and whatever comes off of that comes off of that.
"Because I think there's too many things that we have been inconsistent with. We're not going to fix them in the last month of the year. I just want us to concentrate on a couple of things and try to get some sort of an identity, some sort of feeling of 'This is who we are.'"
As Tortorella said, the chips will fall where they may, but one game in, it worked Tuesday night. The goal for the Blue Jackets is to keep progressing with that philosophy -- which reminded Foligno of another old joke.
"A good quote Scott Hartnell told me a long time ago, his coach came up to him and said, 'Stop thinking, it hurts the team,'" Foligno said. "I always think of that. A lot of times you care so much, you overthink and it actually slows you down. It makes you look less engaged, less intense because you have so many things running through your head.
"There's no doubt our guys care. There's no doubt we want to make a difference, but sometimes you cloud yourself in what you need to do. So we're just taking a real simple approach in how we have to have success. It worked last night. Tampa is going to be better. We know that, and we have to be better."
Know the Foe
The Blue Jackets have played Tampa Bay tight in recent years, but Thursday will present a unique challenge as the Bolts surely will want to end a three-game losing streak including Tuesday's setback against the Blue Jackets.
Columbus saw just how good the Lightning can be at times Tuesday, as there were moments the Bolts used their speed and skill to hem the visitors into their own zone and put 38 shots on the net.
The defending Stanley Cup champions remain one of the best teams in the league by just about any metric, and that's with 2019 Hart Trophy winner Nikita Kucherov on the shelf with a hip injury. The Lightning still leads the NHL with 3.51 goals per game (3.94 at home) and is fifth in the league in team defense, allowing 2.40. The Bolts also are tied for second in the NHL at 27.4 percent on the power play and ninth in PK at 81.8 percent.
While Tampa Bay is banged up - especially on the blue line, as defenseman Ryan McDonagh and Erik Cernak did not play Tuesday and Jan Rutta left with an injury, though McDonagh could return tonight - there's still plenty of depth on the squad.
Perennial Norris Trophy candidate Victor Hedman leads the Bolts and all NHL defensemen with 33 points (six goals, 27 assists) and had 10 shots on goal Tuesday, while Steven Stamkos is back from last year's core injury that cost him most of the playoffs and leads the team with 16 goals to go with 31 points including nine power-play tallies.
Ondrej Palat adds a 12-19-31 line and seven power-play goals, while Brayden Point (13-17-30) also is a 30-point scorer and traditionally kills Columbus (8-9-17 in 12 regular season games vs. CBJ). Yanni Gourde (13 goals), Mathieu Joseph (10) and Alex Killorn (10) also are in double digits in goals. Even banged up, the defense corps boasts names like Hedman and Mikhail Sergachev (2-20-22).
In net, 2019 Vezina winner Andrei Vasilevskiy is turning in another impressive season, again showing he's one of the top goalies in the league with a 21-5-1 record, 1.99 GAA and .930 save percentage. He figures to start Thursday after backup Curtis McElhinney went Tuesday night and got the loss.
3 Keys to the Game
Another step: The Blue Jackets talked about getting back to their style of play Tuesday; can they grow in that regard with some more ice time tonight?
Stay out of the box: Columbus did just that on Tuesday, limiting the Bolts' strong power play to just one chance. The Jackets have not allowed a power-play goal in the last six games, giving up just 11 chances in that time. It's a big help defensively.
Big guns: Players like Foligno, Zach Werenski and Oliver Bjorkstrand stepped up their games in the opener; will even more Jackets follow their lead?
Of Note
Bjorkstrand leads the team with a 13-17-30 line this year and has 7-7-13 in the last 14 games. … Goalie Elvis Merzlkins has a .926 save percentage in his last eight games, while Joonas Korpisalo is at .916 in his last 11 appearances. ... Max Domi has played in 305 consecutive games since Feb. 2, 2017, the seventh longest active streak in the NHL. … Tortorella has 669 career wins, three behind Mike Keenan for 12th place in NHL history. … The Blue Jackets have played in 20 one-goal games this season, tied for third-most in the NHL, and the Jackets are 10-2-8 in those games. … Columbus is 5-9-3 all-time in the regular season at Tampa Bay, with the win Tuesday its first in Amalie Arena since Jan. 13, 2017. … The Blue Jackets have won two in a row in regulation over the Bolts to follow an eight-game losing streak (0-5-3) in the regular season series.
Projected Lineup
(Subject to change)
Patrik Laine - Max Domi - Riley Nash
Oliver Bjorkstrand - Jack Roslovic - Cam Atkinson
Boone Jenner - Alexandre Texier - Nick Foligno
Liam Foudy - Zac Dalpe - Eric Robinson
Zach Werenski - Seth Jones
Vladislav Gavrikov - David Savard
Mikko Lehtonen - Dean Kukan
Elvis Merzlikins
Joonas Korpisalo
Scratches:Kevin Stenlund , Gabriel Carlsson, Michael Del Zotto
Taxi squad:Mikhail Grigorenko, Stefan Matteau, Ryan MacInnis, Scott Harrington, Cam Johnson
Injured reserve:Gus Nyquist (shoulder, out 5-6 months as of November), Emil Bemstrom (lower body, out around a week as of March 18), Brandon Dubinsky (wrist, LTIR)
Roster report:Nash will re-enter the lineup in place of Stenlund, while Merzlikins will start his fourth game in a row. Whether Korpisalo will be able to serve as backup remains to be seen as he continues to battle a lower-body injury.