Lightning score seven, defeat Blue Jackets for first win in four games

COLUMBUS -- Ondrej Palat scored twice and had an assist for the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 7-2 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena on Tuesday.

Brayden Point scored and had two assists, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 20 saves for the Lightning (22-8-5), who had lost three straight.
"It's nice to get a win again," Palat said. "We had a little skid there, three games, but I thought before we played well, but that's going to happen during the season."
Gustav Nyquist scored and had an assist for the Blue Jackets (15-15-1), who have lost four of five and allowed seven goals for the second straight game. Joonas Korpisalo, who cleared COVID-19 protocol Friday, made 29 saves in his first game since Dec. 16.
"I honestly felt pretty good when the game started," he said. "Letting in seven goals, that's embarrassing, the little details, I didn't do too well today."

The Blue Jackets played without defensemen Zach Werenski, who entered COVID-19 protocol Tuesday, and Jake Bean, a late scratch because of a non-COVID-19 illness.
"Those are two players you want to have in the lineup every night," Columbus defenseman Dean Kukan said. "Sometimes it does not work out. We can beat any team without guys like that. We have to play to our team identity, which we are not doing this past couple games."
Palat's goal on Tampa Bay's first power play at 4:53 of the first period made it 1-0. He made it 2-0 at 9:30.
That goal was his 400th NHL point. With an assist on the fourth goal, he has 137 goals and 264 assists in 586 games.
"It's humbling. I'm just so happy," Palat said. "I'm in the NHL. I'm with the same team for so long and we had great success here. I'm helping my team and I would never thought about getting this milestone."

Corey Perry scored on the second Lightning power play to make it 3-0 at 17:27. The puck was deflected several times through the slot until it fell to Perry at the edge of the crease.
"We got some bounces tonight, which was huge," Point said. "That's something we haven't gotten a ton of lately or this year, and to see a couple of pucks bounce on the guys' sticks was nice."
Kukan scored on a rebound 37 seconds into the second period to make it 3-1. He returned after missing 24 games since Oct. 25 with a wrist fracture.
Point regained a three-goal lead, 4-1, at 1:36 before Nyquist made it 4-2 at 4:16.
"Our team game was better," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "Obviously, it helped to get out to the lead we got out to in the beginning. We played with a little bit of confidence today, so it was good."

Pat Maroon's power-play goal at 12:19 of the second extended the lead, and Alex Killorn scored at 12:20 of the third period for the 7-2 final.
The Blue Jackets have been outscored 14-6 in consecutive losses to the Lightning and Carolina Hurricanes.
"We are in it right now and nobody feels sorry for us," Columbus coach Brad Larsen said. "We're not feeling sorry for ourselves. We'll practice again and play again. After that we will play again.
"I go back to a lot of guys that are playing told me they can play at this level and want to play big minutes at this level. Now is the time to show it."
NOTES: Point has scored 25 points (11 goals, 14 assists) in 18 games against the Blue Jackets. … Before the game, the Lightning announced that forward Ross Colton had entered COVID-19 protocol. … Columbus played without forward Alexandre Texier (illness) and goalie Elvis Merzlikins (lower body). … The Lightning were 3-for-4 on the power play. The Blue Jackets were 0-for-3. … Blue Jackets forward Jakub Voracek could play his 1,000th NHL game at the New Jersey Devils on Thursday. He would be the fourth player to do so while playing for the Blue Jackets, joining Sergei Fedorov (2005), Vinny Prospal (2011) and Scott Hartnell (2015).