Columbus Blue Jackets' slump continues, fall to Tampa Bay Lightning 4-2 for fourth straight loss-NHL
Columbus Blue Jackets are finding it hard to find an open space for them to crawl out of the mess they are in at the moment after their fourth straight loss, this time to the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-2, on Tuesday night, at the Tampa Bay Times Forum in Florida.
The Blue Jackets are by far the worst ranked team throughout the National Hockey League (NHL), and have been for many seasons as they sit at number 15 in the Western Conference with 32 points, while others have at least 40 and above.
Tampa Bay, one of the best teams in terms of rebounding, seems to finally have found its winning ways, but with an upcoming All-Star break, the Lightning are want to continue with their four-game winning streak but are afraid it might break the momentum
gained over the past few contests.
"I don't think we'd like to have the (All-Star) break right now in terms of how we're rolling in games", Tampa Bay forward, Martin St. Louis, said. "But if you're going to get a break, you want to finish on a winning note".
Mike Angelidis gave Tampa Bay the lead with his first of the season and of the night on a quick breakaway while being unassisted followed by Columbus’, Brett Lebda, who also registered his inaugural goal of the season less than two minutes later.
"This is a good situation", Lightning coach, Guy Boucher, said. "We've got a lot of home games to catch up on and several players that are injured will be ready to go soon. The team showed a lot of character and there is a lot of hope on what we can do after
the break".
The Lightning struck hard in the second phase, which ultimately gave them the boost they needed to take the match out of the Blue Jackets hands.
Vincent Lecavalier potted the tie-breaker for his 19th of the season on power play opportunity with Derek MacKenzie out for tripping with a minor penalty and then setting up St. Louis for another with less than four minutes remaining.
Ryan Johansen brought Columbus back within a goals reach from levelling the contest but Nate Thompson’s fifth of the hockey year kept Tampa Bay’s momentum rolling.
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