The Tampa Bay Lightning have eliminated the Columbus Blue Jackets. This after the Lightning got a thrilling 5-4 overtime win over Columbus on Wednesday afternoon.
This game started really well for Tampa Bay. The Lightning got the scoring started at the 5:38 mark of the first period when Tyler Johnsono tipped in a goal. Then sixty-one seconds later, Blake Coleman got his first as a member of the Lightning to give Tampa Bay a 2-0 lead.
Columbus had an answer waiting as this game progressed. Nick Foligno scored at the 11:51 mark of the first to pull within 2-1, and Columbus really came on strong in the second. Though Andrei Vasilevskiy made some huge saves throughout the second period, the Blue Jackets were relentless. Kevin Stenlund tied the game at the 9:35 mark of the period, and then Columbus got a goal from Alexander Wennberg with sixteen seconds to go in the second to give the Blue Jackets a 3-2 lead.
When Oliver Bjorkstrand scored at the 9:33 mark of the third period to give Columbus a 4-2 lead, things seemed bleak for Tampa Bay. But the Lightning never gave up - under three minutes later, Kevin Shattenkirk scored to pull within 4-3. The Lightning continued to apply pressure and finally it paid off when Anthony Cirelli scored his first goal of these playoffs to tie the game 4-4. That would be the score at the end of the third as this game would head to overtime.
In the overtime period, each team got a couple of great opportunities, and each goalie stood tall. Joonas Korpisalo finished with 20 saves on 25 shots, while Andrei Vasilevskiy went 37-for-41 in net, including several remarkable saves, to get the win. But the memorable moment came at the 5:12 mark in overtime - when Brayden Point scored the game winner. It was Point's second overtime goal of the series, as he also scored the game winning goal in the fifth overtime in game one of the series.
So the Lightning will advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs - keep it locked to 95.3 WDAE & AM 620 for the absolute latest on opponents, matchups and more.