Johnson scores twice in Lightning's 5-0 rout of Columbus
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Tyler Johnson scored twice, Andre Vasilevskiy stopped 21 shots for his ninth career shutout and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-0 on Sunday night.
Johnson's second-period goals extended his point streak to 12 games, tied for the longest in the league this season. He's got eight goals and 10 assists in that stretch.
After a slow start, Tampa Bay scored four times in a span of 7:23 in the second period, sucking the energy out of the sellout crowd at Nationwide Arena on New Year's Eve.
Nikita Kucherov got his league-leading 25th goal of the season, and Steven Stamkos and Cory Conacher also scored for the Lightning. Brayden Point, Mikhail Sergachev and Victor Hedman had two assists apiece.
Vasilevskiy didn't have to work particularly hard in recording his league-leading fifth shutout of the season for the Lightning, who lead the NHL in wins and sit atop the Atlantic Division at 28-8-2.
Joonas Korpisalo had 30 saves for Columbus. He started in place of Sergei Bobrovsky, who has struggled lately and was rested by coach John Tortorella. The Blue Jackets were 6-6-2 in December and have slipped to third in the Metropolitan Division.
Columbus outshot the Lightning 12-5 in the opening period. They had two power plays and played much of the frame in Tampa Bay's zone but couldn't capitalize. The best chance was a clean breakaway by Nick Foligno with 1:35 left, but his shot was knocked down by Vasilevskiy.
Tampa Bay broke through in the second. Johnson scored his 11th goal of the season with a wrist shot from the right circle, set up nicely by Point. Johnson put in his second goal of the night from the other circle 4:49 into the second, assisted again by Point and Sergachev.
Tampa Bay kept up the flurry at 7:53 when Kucherov buried a wrist shot from the slot. Just short of a minute later, Conacher unloaded a one-timer from the left circle that beat Korpisalo.
The Lightning outshot the Blue Jackets 23-6 in the period.
Stamkos added the fifth goal 10:36 into the third on a power play, while the Blue Jackets managed just three on-target shots in the entire period.
NOTES: Kucherov has 16 points in the last 10 games. ... Columbus F Boone Jenner played in his 300th career NHL game. ... Tampa Bay D Anton Stralman returned after missing two games with a lower body injury. ... Lightning G Louis Domingue was recalled from Syracuse (AHL) after Peter Budaj left Friday night's loss to Philadelphia with a leg injury after a collision. ... D Slater Koekkoek was scratched by Tampa Bay. ... D Dean Kukan was a scratch for Columbus.
UP NEXT:
Tampa Bay: Plays at Toronto on Tuesday night.
Columbus: Plays at Dallas on Tuesday night.
