Game 1 goes to the Bolts in five OT thriller

Over six hours after the ref dropped the puck on Game 1, the Lightning and Blue Jackets were still playing.

Finally, in the fifth overtime of the longest game in Tampa Bay Lightning history, Brayden Point collected the puck at the top of the left circle and fired it past Joonas Korpisalo to give the Bolts a 3-2 victory and a 1-0 series lead.

In what seems like it happened ages ago, the two teams both scored goals off deflections in the early going.

Less than three minutes into the game, Pierre-Luc Dubois gave Columbus the lead with a deflection in the slot after Alexandre Texier took the initial shot. Four minutes later, Brayden Point redirected Nikita Kucherov's shot past Joonas Korpisalo to tie the game at one.

Just when it appeared the two teams would head to the locker room tied at one through 40 minutes, Oliver Bjorkstrand scored to give the Blue Jackets the lead. Bjorkstrand gathered the puck along the boards and fired a shot from a tough angle that beat Andrei Vasilevskiy to the short side.

It didn't take long for the Bolts to grab the equalizer, however. In the opening minute of the third period, Yanni Gourde managed to jam a loose puck on goal that Korpisalo ended up kicking over the goal line to draw the Bolts even again.

For over 100 minutes of hockey after Gourde tied it, the teams turned the game into a stalemate. Back and forth they went through four scoreless overtimes before Point finally ended the game. After Nikita Kucherov's shot was blocked, Point grabbed the loose puck and fired it over the shoulder of Korpisalo to draw the game to an end.

Some of the stats from this game are truly incredible.

Korpisalo finished the game with 85 saves on 88 shots. By comparison, Vasilevskiy had a light night, with 61 stops all told.

As far as time on ice goes, Columbus' Zach Werenski and Seth Jones each skated over 60 minutes. Although he was a game time decision, Victor Hedman suited up for Tampa Bay and logged over 57 minutes to lead the team.

Columbus led the way with a 62-30 shot blocking advantage, while the Bolts levelled 59 hits to the Blue Jackets' 46.

Recovery will be key tomorrow as the two teams get back at it in Game 2 on Thursday afternoon at 3 p.m.

Scoring Summary
1st Period
CBJ | 2:39 Pierre-Luc Dubois (4) - Alexandre Texier, Seth Jones - PPG
TBL | 6:27 Brayden Point (2) - Nikita Kucherov, Victor Hedman

2nd Period
CBJ | 19:12 Oliver Bjorkstrand (1) - Pierre-Luc Dubois, Dean Kukan

3rd Period
TBL | 0:23 Yanni Gourde (1) - Ryan McDonagh, Blake Coleman

1st Overtime
No Scoring

2nd Overtime
No Scoring

3rd Overtime
No Scoring

4th Overtime
No Scoring

5th Overtime
TBL | 10:27 Brayden Point (3) - Nikita Kucherov, Mikhail Sergachev