COLUMBUS, Ohio — After their season-opening loss Tuesday, the Lightning gave the Rangers credit, but knew they were far from their best.
The Lightning are so good at fixing their mistakes, and Friday against the Blue Jackets, they wanted to create more scoring chances, sustain offensive zone time and pepper pucks on net. Dating to the preseason, creating offense is something Tampa Bay has struggled to do. And Lightning coach Jon Cooper juggled his forward lines to provide a different look.
It ended up being an unlikely third line that provided the spark, scoring a pair of even-strength goals to go along with a power-play goal by Corey Perry, who moved up to the third line, to pace the Lightning to a 5-2 win at Nationwide Arena.
