Jake Guentzel scored for the seventh game in a row, the longest streak in the NHL this season, as the Tampa Bay Lightning held off a strong rally from the Columbus Blue Jackets to win 5-3 on Tuesday night.
Guentzel’s goal in the second period marked the longest goal streak in the league this season, surpassing the previous streak of six games held by his teammate Anthony Cirelli.
Nick Paul had a goal and two assists, matching his career high with three points, and Brayden Point scored his team-leading 21st goal. Luke Glendening added his second goal of the season, and Mitchell Chaffee scored his sixth.
Victor Hedman returned to the lineup after missing two games.
The Lightning also celebrated Andrei Vasilevskiy starting his 500th career game before the game, making him the 83rd goaltender in NHL history to reach that milestone.
Tampa Bay won their third straight game and extended their winning streak against Columbus at home to eight games.
Mikael Pyyhtia scored a short-handed goal for Columbus, and Adam Fantilli and Cole Sillinger also scored. Kirill Marchenko had two assists, and Jet Greaves made 27 saves in net for the Blue Jackets.
Columbus was already without defenseman Jack Johnson (upper body) and lost Dante Fabbro to injury after a hard hit from Tampa Bay’s Conor Geekie.
The Blue Jackets cut the lead to 4-3 in the third period but lost their fifth straight game (0-3-2) and have gone 1-6-2 in their last nine games.
The Lightning took a 1-0 lead at 3:21 of the first period when Glendening deflected a shot by Nick Perbix.
Greaves made an incredible save against Paul on a breakaway with just four minutes left in the first period. Paul’s shot hit Greaves’ lower body and hit the crossbar, but Greaves caught the puck as it fell near the goal line.
Paul got his revenge early in the second period when he won a battle along the boards, skated into the high slot, and scored his seventh goal of the season at 1:28.
Guentzel scored his 18th goal at 7:36, following up his rebound on a strong rush with an assist from Paul.
Chaffee scored his first career power-play goal on a five-minute power play after Sillinger was penalized for misconduct, giving Tampa Bay a 4-0 lead at 14:18.
In the third period, Pyyhtia (second goal) and Fantilli (sixth goal) scored 41 seconds apart off turnovers to make it 4-2. Sillinger’s power-play goal at 14:11 made it 4-3.
With Greaves pulled for an extra skater, Point sealed the victory with an empty-net goal.
