GAME 2 FINAL: Blue Jackets 3, Lightning 1

The Blue Jackets tied their Stanley Cup Playoffs first-round series with Tampa Bay by capturing Game 2 by a 3-1 score on Thursday afternoon in Toronto.

Game in a Paragraph

Just like in Game 1, Columbus built a 2-1 lead through two periods, but this time, the Blue Jackets were able to add to the lead as Alex Wennberg scored his second goal of the postseason on a fantastic individual effort with 8:33 to play. From there, Columbus was able to hold off the Bolts to post a series-evening win.

CBJ Standouts

Quote of the Game

Murray: "I think we bounced back pretty good. We had a really solid game tonight. Just all over the ice, I felt like we supported each other really well, got pucks out when we had to. We kind of clogged up our D-zone. Whenever there seemed to be a miscue or something happened, someone was right there to block it with a good stick or something like that. Korpi had some big saves. It was huge to see the guys play like that."

Quick Recap

Tampa Bay had the jump over the first 10 minutes and earned a 1-0 lead to show for it. Just 5:24 into the game, the Lightning took the lead, as the Blue Jackets were left scrambling in their own zone. Ondrej Palat pulled the puck out of a scrum in front of the net and fired high, but Nikita Kucherov grabbed the puck off the back boards and banked it into the net off Korpisalo as he tried to get to his post.

But a CBJ penalty kill seemed to change momentum, as the Blue Jackets scored shortly thereafter. Murray tied the score at 12:42 to complete a strong forechecking play by Columbus, as Dubois took the puck in the right corner and centered a feed to Murray as he cut through the slot and the defenseman quickly put the puck past Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy.

It was then 2-1 shortly thereafter as Bjorkstrand got on the board with a power-play goal on the Jackets' first man advantage chance of the game. Columbus won the offensive zone draw and kept the puck in, with Dubois eventually centering from below the goal line to Bjorkstrand, who ripped a one-timer into the far corner past Vasilevskiy with 1:25 to go in the period.

Dubois nearly made it a three-point night early in the second as he barged in on a 2-on-1, but Vasilevskiy made the save. Columbus buzzed at times from there and kept its lead through the second period, while Tampa just missed on a few chances as Kucherov had a rebound bounce through the crease before it was cleared, then Alex Killorn couldn't quite get on the end of a centering pass on the rush from Tyler Johnson.

In the third period, Wennberg added to the lead to make it 3-1 with 8:33 to go as part of a fantastic individual effort. Liam Foudy flipped the puck out of the zone, but Wennberg chased it down, made a sweet deke through his own legs to get goalside of defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk, and stuffed a puck past Vasilevskiy's blocker from in deep.

A huge shot block by Vladislav Gavrikov on a Mikhail Sergachev blaster on an ensuing Tampa Bay power play helped keep it a 3-1 game. The Lightning pulled the goal with 3:43 to play and some heroic defending and a big save late by Korpisalo on Palat helped Columbus bring it home.

Notable

Tampa Bay had a 37-22 edge in shots on goal, with Vasilevskiy finishing with 19 saves. ... The CBJ power play finished 1-3, while Tampa was 0-2. ... Murray became the fourth CBJ defenseman to score this postseason, most of any team in the NHL. … Bjorkstrand has four goals in his last four postseason games vs. Tampa Bay. … Alexandre Texier got the second assist on Bjorkstrand's power-play tally, giving him four assists this postseason. … The Blue Jackets have a first-period goal in four straight games. … Columbus is 3-0 after a loss this postseason. ... Tampa Bay had 38 hits in the game while Columbus delivered 15.

Roster Report

Columbus made two changes to the lineup, as both Cam Atkinson and Nathan Gerbe were scratched and listed as unfit to play. Devin Shore and Emil Bemstrom went into the lineup, with Shore playing his first postseason game for the Blue Jackets.

The other scratches were forwards Josh Anderson (unfit to play), Stefan Matteau and Kevin Stenlund, as well as defensemen Gabriel Carlsson, Adam Clendening, Scott Harrington, Markus Nutivaara and Andrew Peeke. In addition, goaltender Elvis Merzlikins was unfit to play and Veini Vehvilainen was scratched.

Up Next

The Blue Jackets and Lightning meet again for Game 3 on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m.