TAMPA, Fla. — Matt Duchene had a goal and three assists, Sergei Bobrovsky made 23 saves, and the Columbus Blue Jackets stunned the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-1 on Friday night to take a 2-0 first-round series lead.
Columbus also got goals from Cam Atkinson, Zach Werenski, Riley Nash and Artemi Panarin. The Blue Jackets started the postseason last April by winning the first two games of the first-round series with eventual Stanley Cup Washington, which won the next four games.
Mikhail Sergachev had a goal and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 22 shots for the Lightning, who lost two games in a row just twice in the regular season. Tampa Bay matched the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings for the most wins in a regular season with 62.
Lightning right wing Nikita Kucherov, who led the NHL with 128 points, was held off the scoresheet for the second consecutive game and picked up tripping, boarding and 10-minute misconduct penalties late in the third period.
The Blue Jackets rallied from a three-goal, first-period deficit to beat Tampa Bay 4-3 in Game 1 on Wednesday night, as Seth Jones scored the go-ahead goal on a power play to cap Columbus’ three-goal third period.
Duchene assisted on both Columbus goals in the first period Friday and put the Blue Jackets ahead 3-0 on the power play when the center scored on the rebound at 1:28 of the second after Vasilevskiy had stopped his tip-in try.
The Lightning got within 3-1 when Sergachev’s shot went into the net off Blue Jackets defenseman Markus Nutivaara’s skate five minutes into the third. But Nash and Panarin scored goals in a three-minute span midway through the period.
Bobrovsky stopped Kucherov’s shot and got a piece of Steven Stamkos’ scoring chance that also went off the crossbar during an early second-period power play.
Duchene stole the puck from J.T. Miller along the left-wing boards and sent a pass into the low slot that Atkinson redirected past Vasilevskiy 5:15 into the game.
Werenski made it 2-0 from the blue line after Duchene won a faceoff during a power play at 11:44 of the first.
ISLANDERS 3, PENGUINS 1: Jordan Eberle and Josh Bailey scored in the third period and New York beat visiting Pittsburgh for a 2-0 lead in their first-round playoff series.
Anthony Beauvillier also scored and Robin Lehner stopped 32 shots to help the Islanders open a postseason series with two wins for the first time since sweeping Edmonton in the 1983 Stanley Cup finals for their fourth straight championship.
Mathew Barzal had two assists in a chippy, physical game that featured a lot of hard hits and some skirmishes, especially in the first two periods – and also after the final buzzer.
Erik Gudbranson scored and Matt Murray finished with 31 saves for the Penguins, who have lost the first two games of a postseason series for the first time since the 2013 Eastern Conference finals against Boston.
Game 3 is Sunday at Pittsburgh.
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