TAMPA (95.3 WDAE) -- The Tampa Bay Lightning scored twice in a 40-second span in the first period, Brayden Point finished with a pair of goals and an assist, and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped all 31 shots he faced for his second shutout of the season as the Lightning rebounded from Saturday's loss on the road by defeating the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-0 Tuesday at Amalie Arena.
Both of Tampa Bay's goals in the first period came with just under five minutes to play in the period. Mikhail Sergachev set up Mathieu Joseph, who had parked in front of the crease, and the rookie forward came away with his 11th goal of the season. Just 34 seconds later, a Nikita Kucherov shot ended up redirecting off Brayden Point's skate and past Sergei Bobrovsky for Point's 25th goal of the year.
After a scoreless second period, Tampa Bay pushed the lead to 3-0 six minutes into the third as Tyler Johnson used a short breakaway and found Kucherov across ice, and the league's point leader buried his 21st goal of the season.
Midway through the final frame, Sergachev hooked up with Point for his second goal of the game, setting the score at 4-0.
Tampa Bay improves to 33-8-2 on the season, including a mark of 16-1-1 in their last 18 games. They'll look to make it a perfect homestand Thursday when the Carolina Hurricanes come to Amalie Arena.
SCORING SUMMARY
1st Period
- TBL: GOAL - Mathieu Joseph (11). ASSIST - Sergachev. TIME - 15:55
- TBL: GOAL - Brayden Point (25). ASSISTS - Kucherov, Johnson. TIME - 16:39
2nd Period
NONE
3rd Period
- TBL: GOAL - Nikita Kucherov (21). ASSISTS - Johnson, Point. TIME - 6:05
- TBL: GOAL - Brayden Point (26). ASSIST - Sergachev. TIME - 8:53