Nuts and Bolts: Lightning look to continue dominance of Jackets
Tampa Bay has won five straight games over Columbus heading into Monday's matchup
by Bryan Burns / TampaBayLightning.com
The Bolts begin a road back-to-back on Monday night in Columbus vs. the Blue Jackets.
The Lightning extended their winning streak to six games with a 3-0 shutout of the Canadiens on Saturday night at Amalie Arena. The Blue Jackets have also played well as of late, winning five of their last six games.
Lines from Saturday's game. Subject to change.
Forwards
Ondrej Palat - Steven Stamkos - Tyler Johnson
Yanni Gourde - Brayden Point - Nikita Kucherov
Alex Killorn - Anthony Cirelli - J.T. Miller
Adam Erne - Cedric Paquette - Mathieu Joseph
Defensemen
Victor Hedman - Dan Girardi
Ryan McDonagh - Erik Cernak
Mikhail Sergachev - Anton Stralman
Goaltenders
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Louis Domingue
Monday's Matchup
The Lightning and the Blue Jackets are playing their third of three meetings this season and the only meeting at Nationwide Arena...Tampa Bay has won both prior matchups this season against Columbus...The Lightning matched a season high for goals (8) and power-play goals (4) in a single game following an 8-2 victory over the Blue Jackets Oct. 13 at AMALIE Arena, Brayden Point leading the way for the Bolts with two goals and an assist while J.T. Miller contributed a goal and two assists...The Bolts blanked the Blue Jackets 4-0 at AMALIE Arena Jan. 8, Andrei Vasilevskiy making 31 saves to record his second shutout of the season and Brayden Point tallying two goals and an assist...Tampa Bay is aiming to sweep the three-game season series from Columbus for the second-consecutive season and third time in the last four seasons... The Lightning have won five in a row over the Blue Jackets, outscoring Columbus 23-6 and recording three shutouts over that stretch... The Bolts have posted shutout wins in their last two trips to Columbus and have won five of their last six in Columbus...Tyler Johnson has registered three-consecutive multi-point games vs. CBJ (2-4--6)...Brayden Point has multiple points in three-straight games against CBJ and is on a four-game point streak vs. the Blue Jackets (5-4--9)...Nikita Kucherov has tallied multiple points in four-straight games against CBJ and is on a five-game point streak vs. the Blue Jackets (4-5--9)...Mikhail Sergachev has a pair of assists in each of his last two meetings with CBJ and has recorded a point in all five career games vs. the Blue Jackets (2-6--8)...Andrei Vasilevskiy has notched a shutout in three of his last five starts vs. CBJ.
Monday's Storylines
The Lightning have posted consecutive team shutouts for the first time this season and sixth time in franchise history (Tampa Bay has never recorded three-straight shutouts)...The Bolts have yet to lose in February, going 7-0-2 in the month so far...Tampa Bay is beginning its eighth of 11 back-to-back sets tonight...The Lightning are 6-0-1 in the first half of a back-to-back set so far this season...The Bolts continue to top the NHL standings, a position they've held solely since Dec. 2, and own a 15-point lead over second place CGY and SJS and a 16-point advantage over NYI and BOS in the Eastern Conference...Tampa Bay has netted at least one power-play goal in four-straight games (7 PPGs total) and owns the NHL's best power play at 29.7%...If the season ended today, the Lightning's power-play percentage would rank as the fourth-best power play all-time in the NHL behind only 1977-78 Montreal (31.9%), 1977-78 New York Islanders (31.4%) and 1978-79 New York Islanders (31.1%).
Injuries
None
2018-19 Man Games Lost: 84
Tampa Bay Sports Item of the Game
adidas AM4 Lightning Third Jersey Sneaker
A limited number of special edition adidas AM4 Third Jersey sneakers remain. Get yours before they're gone. Visit TampaBaySports.com for more details.
The Road Ahead
Tuesday, Feb. 19 at Philadelphia Flyers
Thursday, Feb. 21 vs. Buffalo Sabres
Monday, Feb. 25 vs. Los Angeles Kings