COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS NOTES:
Dec. 15, 2022 Game No. 29 (10-16-2, 22 pts.) at Tampa Bay Lightning (18-9-1, 37 pts.), Amalie Arena Road Game No. 10 (2-6-1, 5 pts.) The Blue Jackets Press Box website, which includes game notes, stats, releases and video/audio clips as well as the 2022-23 Media Guide can be accessed at bluejackets.com/pressbox. Follow @BlueJacketsPR on Twitter for comprehensive information and updates on the team.
THE LAST GAME: DEC. 13, 2022 – CBJ 0 at FLA 4
CBJ Goal Scorers:
FLA Goal Scorers: Montour (6), Tkachuk (14), Barkov (6), EN – Reinhart (8)
Goalies: CBJ – Merzlikins (22/25; 59:18); FLA – Bobrovsky (22/22; 60:00)
CBJ PP: 0/3; PK: 3/3 | Shots: CBJ: 22 / FLA: 26
3 Stars: 1. Bobrovsky, FLA; 2. Tkachuk, FLA; 3. Barkov, FLA
Noteworthy: CBJ failed to score a goal for just the 2nd time this season… FLA’s eventual GWG was scored 9:04 into the game with the club adding two 2nd period goals (3:47 and 19:16)… CBJ were led by Laine in shots (4), Olivier in hits (4), Bjork in blocked shots (4) and Gavrikov in TOI (23:45).
OhioHEALTH INJURY REPORT
Danforth (torn labrum); Placed on Injured Reserve (Oct. 25); 6 months (22 games)
Boqvist (broken foot); Placed on Injured Reserve (Oct. 26); 6 weeks (20 games)
Voracek (upper body); Placed on Injured Reserve (Nov. 4); out indefinitely (17 games)
Blankenburg (ankle); Placed on IR (Nov. 10); 6-8 weeks (15 games)
Werenski (torn labrum); Placed on IR (retro to Nov. 10); Expected to miss rest of regular season (15 games)
Bean (shoulder); Placed on IR (retro to Nov. 15); out indefinitely (14 games)
Korpisalo (lower body); Placed on IR (retro to Dec. 9); 1-2 weeks (2 games)
TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 162
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
Dec. 12 Recalled Tarasov from Cleveland (AHL) and assigned Greaves to Cleveland (AHL)
Dec. 10 Placed Korpisalo on Injured Reserve and added Greaves to roster on emergency recall from Cleveland (AHL)
Dec. 5 Recalled Marchenko from Cleveland (AHL) and assigned Fix-Wolansky to Cleveland (AHL)
Dec. 1 Activated Laine and Merzlikins off IR and assigned Tarasov to Cleveland (AHL)
Dec. 1 Signed 2022 2nd round pick Luca Del Bel Belluz and 2021 5th round pick James Malatesta to 3-year entry level contracts
TONIGHT’S GAME BROADCAST INFO
7:00pm ET | Bally Sports Ohio | 97.1 The Fan
AGAINST THE LIGHTNING
2022-23 Series: 0-1-0 (0-0-0 at TBL)
2021-22 Series: 1-2-0 (0-1-0 at TBL)
All-Time Series: 14-23-1-6 (5-12-0-4 at TBL)
Last 10 (Overall | Road): 3-6-1 | 3-5-2
All-Time GF/GA: 97-133
All-Time SF/SA: 1,270-1,318
All-Time PP: 20-of-146
All-Time PK: 117-of-151
THE LAST GAME VS. TBL: OCT. 14, 2022 – CBJ 2 vs. TBL 5
CBJ Goal Scorers: Gaudreau (1), Nyquist (1)
TBL Goal Scorers: PP – Perry (1), Stamkos (2), Colton (1), Foote (1), Stamkos (3)
Goalies: CBJ – Tarasov (34/39; 60:00); TBL– Vasilevskiy (26/28; 59:43)
CBJ PP: 0/4; PK: 1/2 | Shots: CBJ: 28 / TBL: 39
3 Stars: 1. Stamkos, TBL; 2. Colton, TBL; 3. Perry, TBL
Noteworthy: CBJ fell to 8-10-1-3 all-time in home openers… CBJ struck 1st 2:21 into the game and again with 4:05 left in the first to tie the game at two, but TBL followed up with three unanswered goals…TBL led 3-2 after the 1st 20 minutes.. Gaudreau notched his first goal as a Blue Jacket… Gudbranson recorded his first point as a Blue Jacket with an assist.
SEASON SERIES LEFT: Jan. 10 at TBL
NOTED (Team Highlights vs. TBL)
Teams met in 2019 and 2020 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals with each club winning a series… CBJ have gone 4-6-3 in the past 13 regular season meetings and snapped a 5-game losing streak in the teams’ last meeting of the 2021-22 series, a 5-2 CBJ victory on Apr. 28 at NWA… TBL have won 4-straight home games in the series (CBJ; 0-3-1) since 4/1/21… The winning team has scored 4+ goals in 7 of the last 8 games of the series, including 5-straight… TBL own 6 of the 8 shutouts in the all-time series and both penalty shot attempts… Neither team has recorded a hat trick in the series… Most goals scored at TBL: 5 (11/25/16)… Most goals allowed at TBL: 8 (10/13/18).
Columbus Blue Jackets: Media Notes
NOTED (Player Highlights vs. TBL)
Gaudreau notched his 6th career hat trick on 3/10/22 vs. TBL (Vasilevskiy)… Jenner skated in his 300th career NHL game on 12/31/17 vs. TBL… Korpisalo made his NHL debut on 12/14/15 vs. TBL… Kuraly made his NHL debut on 11/3/16 at TBL… Olivier scored his 1st career NHL goal on 1/30/21 at TBL.
PLAYER NOTABLES vs. TBL
•Gaudreau – 6-10-16 in 14 career GP, including goals in each of the last two games (4-0-4)
•Johnson – 0-2-2 in 3 career GP, including assists in his last two contests vs. Tampa Bay
•Merzlikins – 3-4-2 with a 2.47 GAA and .921 SV% in 7 career GP, including a 2.62 GAA and .921 SV% in 5 career contests at Tampa Bay
•Nyquist – 10-9-19 in 28 career GP, including points in back-to-back games (1-1-2) and four of the last six contests (4-2-6)
•Roslovic – 5-5-10 in 15 career GP, including points in two of the last three contests (1-1-2)
BLUE JACKETS NOTES
HIT THE ROAD, (BLUE) JACK(ETS)
The Blue Jackets had their two-game winning streak snapped and fell to 7-7-2 in the last 16 games overall following a 4-0 loss at Florida on Tuesday. It was just the second time this season the club failed to record a goal (4-0 L to BOS on Oct. 28). The club, which is 1-2-1 in its last four road games, began a three-game road trip on Tuesday and will close it out on Saturday with a matinee game at Boston. This trip comes after the team concluded a three-game homestand on Sunday (2-1-0). Columbus plays six-of-eight contests on the road from December 13-29. The Blue Jackets play 15 games in the month of December with two sets of back-to-back games (Dec. 6 at PIT/Dec. 7 vs. BUF; Dec. 19 vs. DAL/Dec. 20 at PHI).
IMPROVING THROUGHOUT
CBJ are 7-7-2 in their past 16 outings despite amassing 113-man games lost due to injury/illness during that span. The club is averaging 3.13 goals-for and 3.69 goals-gainst per game, while converting 20.0 percent on the power play and 77.8 percent when killing penalties. On the flip side, Columbus went 3-9-0 with a 2.50 GF/GP, 4.58 GA/GP, 6.1 PP pct. and 79.0 PK pct. through its first 12 contests of the season.
FROM THE BLUELINE
CBJ blueliners have collected 2-6-8 in the last seven games and 13-32-45 in 28 games this season to rank 14th-T in the NHL in goals. Vladislav Gavrikov, who tallied his first multi-assist and third multi-point effort of the season with 0-2-2 on Sunday, has 0-5-5 in his last eight games. The blueliner notched his second career overtime winner and fifth career game-winning goal on Nov. 15 vs. the Flyers, finishing with 1-1-2, while also skating in a career-high 28:40 TOI (previous 28:20 on Apr. 22, 2022 vs. OTT). He became the fifth different defenseman in NHL history to score each of his first two or more goals of a season in overtime and is also one off the franchise record for overtime goals by a defenseman in a single season (3; Seth Jones, 2016-17 & 2018-19). Erik Gudbranson, who recorded an assist on Sunday, ranks third on the Blue Jackets in hits (52) and blocked shots (45) and has collected 1-6-7 and 19 penalty minutes in his first 27 contests with Columbus this season.
ROOKIE REPORT
The club currently has nine rookies on the roster with forwards Liam Foudy, Kent Johnson, Kirill Marchenko and Carson Meyer along with defensemen Tim Berni, Nick Blankenburg (injured), Marcus Bjork and Jake Christiansen as well as goaltender Daniil Tarasov. They have combined for 11-17-28 in 28 games in 2022-23. CBJ rank fourth-T among NHL team rookies in goals and fifth in points. Johnson ranks fifth-T among NHL rookies in goals and points-per-game (.56; min. 15 GP) and seventh-T in points with 6-8-14 in 25 games. He has registered 3-5-8 in his last 14 outings and 6-7-13 in his past 22 contests played. Bjork,has posted 2-4-6 in his first 15 NHL games. He ranks third-T among NHL rookie defensemen in points-per-game (.40; min. 10 GP). The blueliner tallied points in his first two NHL games after scoring his first career goal in his NHL debut on Nov. 12 at NY Islanders and picking up his first career assist on Nov. 15 vs. Philadelphia. He is the first blueliner and seventh player overall in franchise history to score in his debut.
THINGS ARE LOOKING ROSIE
Jack Roslovic had his three-game points/assists streak (2-4-6) snapped on Tuesday at Florida. The forward has collected 2-6-8 in his last seven games, including recording his third career four-point game on Sunday (2-2-4). He tallied 2-1-3 in the second period, matching the franchise record for most points in a period (47th time; MR: Sean Kuraly with 2-1-3 on 11/17/22 vs. MTL). The forward also recorded both a power play goal and shorthanded goal in the second frame, which is the ninth time in franchise history a player has scored a PPG/SHG in the same game (MR: Kristian Huselius, 11/19/09 at DAL) and fourth time it has been accomplished in a single period (MR: Rick Nash: second period on 1/27/09 vs. DET). He is also the first Blue Jacket since Artemi Panerin (3, 2018) with multiple four-point games in a calendar year (3-1-4 at Detroit on Apr. 9).
LAINE IT UP
Winger Patrik Laine, who tallied his first three-point effort of the season on Sunday with 1-2-3, had his three-game goal streak (4-2-6) and four-game points streak (4-3-7) snapped on Tuesday at Florida. The forward, who has missed two separate stretches due to elbow and ankle injuries, ranks fourth-T in the NHL in goals and 13th-T in points in the month of December with 6-3-9 in seven outings. A season after finishing at a point-per-game pace for the first time in his career at 26-30-56 in 56 contests, the 24-year-old has registered 8-5-13 in his first 15 contests of the 2022-23 campaign.
CAPTAIN BOONE JENNER
Boone Jenner had his three-game points streak (1-2-3) snapped on Tuesday. He has now registered 2-5-7 in his last eight contests and 9-8-17 in his past 18 contests since Nov. 4. He finished the month of November with 8-3-11 in 11 contests, which was the third-most goals in the month in franchise history (tied). The forward ranks 11th-T in the NHL in goals scored at home this season with 10-9-19 in 19 outings. He also ranks fourth in the NHL in faceoff wins (346-of-608 faceoffs; 56.9 pct.). The 29-year-old, who was selected 37th overall at the 2011 NHL Draft, is the longest-tenured Blue Jacket in his 10th season with the club, including his second as the team’s captain. The forward skated in his 600th career game on Nov. 4 vs. Colorado, becoming just the third player to reach the milestone with the franchise. With his second goal on Nov.15 vs. Philadelphia, Jenner notched his 150th career goal with the Blue Jackets and became the third player to reach the milestone with the franchise, joining Rick Nash (289) and Cam Atkinson (213). He also ranks fifth on the franchise’s all-time list in points (305).
RK PLAYER TOTAL GP SEASONS WITH CBJ
- Rick Nash 674 2002-12 (9 seasons)
- Cam Atkinson 627 2011-21 (10 seasons)
- Boone Jenner 617 2013-current (10 seasons)
- Nick Foligno 599 2012-21 (9 seasons)
- David Savard 597 2011-21 (10 seasons)
HERE’S JOHNNY!
Left wing Johnny Gaudreau collected his team-leading fourth three-point outing and eighth multi-point effort with 1-2-3, including the overtime winner, on Sunday. The forward has posted points in seven of his last nine outings with 3-10-13. He ranks second-T in the NHL in assists and sixth-T in points since November 10 with 5-17-22 in 16 contests. The six-time All-Star leads the club in goals (tied), assists and points with 10-21-31 in 28 games while recording points in 19 of his contests. The winger has done most of his damage at home with 9-16-25 in 19 outings to rank sixth-T in the NHL in points at home this season. He played in his 322nd consecutive game on Tuesday, the third-longest active iron man streak in the NHL and trailing only Phil Kessel (1,013) and Brent Burns (707). The Salem, New Jersey native, who signed a seven-year contract with Columbus in July, was selected by the Flames in the fourth round, 104th overall, at the 2011 NHL Draft and ranked fifth on the franchise’s all-time list in assists, points and game-winning goals following his first nine NHL campaigns from 2013-22 with 210-399-609, 41 GWG in 602 contests, including a career-high 40-75-115 in 82 games last season when he earned First Team All-NHL honors.
TOUGH TO REPLACE Z
Defenseman Zach Werenski recorded his first multi-point game of the season with 1-1-2 in a win over Philadelphia on Nov. 10 to extend his points-streak to three-straight games (1-3-4) before leaving the with an upper body injury. Unfortunately, that was the last CBJ will likely see the club’s top defenseman this regular season as it was announced Friday that he suffered a separated shoulder and torn labrum and likely to miss six months. He led the club’s blueliners in goals, assists and points at the time of the injury with 3-5-8 in 13 games. The two-time NHL All-Star blueliner set single-season career highs in assists, points and time on ice and posted the third-most assists (tied) and points by a defenseman in a single season in franchise history with 11-37-48 and 25:40 TOI in 68 games in 2021-22.
UP IN CLEVELAND
Columbus’ AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters, have kicked off the 2022-23 season going 11-8-3 after a 6-5 shootout victory over the Hershey Bears on Sunday. The club has points in 10 of its last 13 games (7-3-3) and sits in third place in the North Division. Right Wing Trey Fix-Wolansky, who recently spent time in Columbus, ranks second in the AHL in points-per-game (min. 10 GP) with 11-14-25 and 1.47 ppg in 17 contests. Samuel Knazko (1-12-13 in 20 GP) and David Jiricek (4-9-13 in 15 GP) rank third-T among AHL rookie defensemen in scoring. The Monsters return to action when they host the Laval Rocket on Saturday, Dec. 17.
2022-23 TEAM QUICK HITS
•CBJ are 3-0-0 in Thursday games this season with the first three games all played at Nationwide Arena
•CBJ play 3-straight games against the Atlantic Division from Dec. 13-17 (0-1-0)
•CBJ have scored the first goal of the game in three of the past five contests
•CBJ have scored 50 goals in their past 16 games (3.13 per game), lighting the lamp at least four times in seven of those contests
•CBJ finished with a season-high 12 skaters recording a point on Nov. 17 vs. MTL
•CBJ’s 22 different players with a goal this season is tied for the League lead with Detroit and Florida
•CBJ have recorded 23 multi-goal periods this season
•CBJ were tied for third-youngest team in the NHL (ARI and NJD) to start the season at 25.9, trailing only BUF (25.0) and OTT (25.7)
2022-23 PLAYER QUICK HITS
•Chinakhov, who has collected 2-5-7 in his last 14 outings, has already set a single-season career high in assists with 4-9-13 in 27 outings this season (7-7-14 in 62 games in 2021-22)
•Kuraly registered 6 (5-1-6) of his 9 points (6-3-9) in the month of November and finished 2nd on the club in goals in the month •Marchenko notched his 1st career NHL goal on Sun., becoming the 3rd CBJ player to do so this season (Johnson, Bjork) •Nyquist has posted 3-6-9 in his last 15 contests
•Peeke leads the club in blocked shots (56) and has registered at least one in 25 of his 28 contests this season
TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING NOTES:
LAST GAME
Lightning 6 vs. Seattle 2
The Tampa Bay Lightning skated to a third-straight victory with a 6-2 win over the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday at AMALIE Arena, marking the Bolts’ largest margin of victory this season…The Lightning improved to 18-9-1 on the season with a home record of 11-4-1…Tampa Bay have yet to lose a game to SEA after winning both matchups in the Kraken’s inaugural season last year…The Bolts got off to a fast start with Ian Cole opening the scoring at the 1:31 mark of the first with a shot from the point that got through traffic and beat Philipp Grubauer…Erik Cernak doubled Tampa Bay’s lead with a wrist shot into the top left corner with 12:36 remaining in the first…Jared McCann got SEA within one with a goal at the 18:39 mark of the opening period…Corey Perry made it a 3-1 game with a power-play goal at the 12:13 mark of the second with Ross Colton collecting the lone assist…Brayden Point walked through the SEA defense and chipped a backhand into the top left corner just 1:15 after Perry’s goal to make it a 4-1 game…Colton scored his seventh goal of the season at the 15:36 mark of the second when he redirected a point shot from Mikhail Sergachev to make it 5-1…Steven Stamkos scored his team-leading 16th goal of the year with 14:31 remaining in regulation to extend his point streak to 14 games…Ryan Donato made it 6-2 with 4.5 seconds remaining before the final horn sounded to end the game…Andrei Vasilevskiy recorded his 12th win of the season and fourth in the last five games with 36 saves on 38 shots against…Nikita Kucherov picked up his 400th career assist.
PP: TBL – 1-3 SEA – 0-3
SOG: TBL – 30 SEA – 38
Attendance: 19,092
TONIGHT’S MATCHUP
The Lightning and the Blue Jackets are playing the second of three matchups this season and the first of two meetings at AMALIE Arena…The Bolts grabbed a victory in the first meeting with a 5-2 win Oct. 14 at CBJ…After Johnny Gaudreau opened the scoring at the 2:21 mark of the first period, Corey Perry answered with a power-play goal with 5:52 remaining in the opening frame to tie the game at one…Steven Stamkos scored 1:13 after Perry to give the Lightning a 2-1 lead but Gustav Nyquist quickly responded for CBJ when he tied the game at two 34 seconds later…Ross Colton restored Tampa Bay’s one-goal lead with his first goal of the season at the 18:55 mark of the first before Cal Foote put the Bolts up by two with 12:15 remaining in the second…Stamkos scored his second goal of the night at the 7:57 mark of the third to wrap up the 5-2 win…Victor Hedman skated in his 900th career game and Andrei Vasilevskiy earned the win with 26 saves on 28 shots against…The Bolts have won five straight home games vs. CBJ and seven of the last eight meetings at AMALIE Arena…The Lightning are 6-1-0 in the last seven matchups vs.
CBJ overall…Tampa Bay is 29-14-0 with one tie all-time vs. CBJ, including a home record of 16-5-0…Stamkos has picked up points in five consecutive games vs. CBJ (5-5—10)…Stamkos has recorded three straight multi-point outings vs. CBJ (4-4—8)…Nikita Kucherov has pointed in nine of his last 10 games vs. CBJ (10-11—21)…Kucherov has scored a goal and posted multiple points in four straight home games vs. CBJ (4-6—10)…Hedman has picked up points and assists in five straight games vs. CBJ (1-6—7)…Since joining the Bolts, Perry has recorded points in three of his four games vs. CBJ (3-2—5)…Vasilevskiy has won five consecutive games vs. CBJ and six straight on home ice…Vasilevskiy is 6-1-0 with one shutout, a .933 save percentage and 1.98 goals against average in seven career home starts vs. CBJ…Stamkos (15-16—31) holds the Lightning franchise records for career goals and points vs. CBJ.
TBL ALL-TIME POINT LEADERS VS. CBJ
- Steven Stamkos – 31 pts. (15-16—31, 28 GP)
- Nikita Kucherov – 28 pts. (11-17—28, 22 GP)
- Brayden Point – 25 pts. (11-14—25, 21 GP)
- Victor Hedman – 22 pts. (4-18—22, 33 GP)
- Ondrej Palat – 20 pts. (10-10—20, 28 GP)
TONIGHT’S STORYLINES
Tampa Bay is playing the sixth and final game of a season-long, six-game homestand tonight…The Bolts have won four of the five games on the current homestand…Tampa Bay will play nine of their 14 games in December at AMALIE Arena…The Lightning are 4-4-1 against Metropolitan Division opponents this season…Tampa Bay is 11-4-1 at home this season and have won eight of their last 10 home contests, including three straight…The Lightning’s .719 point percentage on home ice is the third-best in the NHL this season, trailing only Toronto and Boston.
INJURIES
2022-23 Regular Season Man Games Lost: 71
Current Injuries:
Rudolfs Balcers (Upper-body injury; Out indefinitely) 8 Games
Vladislav Namestnikov (Lower-body injury; Day-to-day) 1 Game
TRANSACTIONS
Dec. 3 – Re-assigned D Philippe Myers to AHL Syracuse
Dec. 3 – Assigned F Cole Koepke to AHL Syracuse
STAMMER TIME
Lightning captain Steven Stamkos scored a goal for the second-straight game Dec. 13 vs. SEA and extended his season-long point streak to 14 games (9-12—21), the longest point streak among Tampa Bay skaters this season and the second-longest in franchise history…The 14-game point streak is the second-longest of Stamkos’s career, trailing only his franchise record 18-game point streak in 2009-10 (17-16—33)…Stamkos is one of just four NHL players to record a point streak of 14 or more games this season…Stamkos is three goals away from his 500th career goal…Stamkos’s 497 career goals are the 48th-most in NHL history and the 27th-most among first round picks…Stamkos (16-18—34) leads the Bolts in goals, ranks third in assists and trails only Nikita Kucherov (11-31— 42) in points…Stamkos is tied for the 15th-most points among NHL skaters…Stamkos’s seven power-play goals lead all Tampa Bay skaters and are tied for the eighth-most in the NHL…Stamkos has recorded more career goals and points than any player in Tampa Bay franchise history.
TBL ALL-TIME POINT LEADERS
- Steven Stamkos – 1,006 pts. (497-509—1,006, 950 GP)
- Martin St. Louis – 953 pts. (365-588—953, 972 GP)
- Vincent Lecavalier – 874 pts. (383-491—874, 1,037 GP)
- Nikita Kucherov – 658 pts. (257-401—658, 590 GP)
- Victor Hedman – 617 pts. (135-482—617, 924 GP)
GAME POINT
Bolts forward Brayden Point scored a goal for the fourth-straight game Dec. 13 vs. SEA…Point has picked up six points over his last four games (5-1—6) and 14 over his last 11 (9-5—14)…Point has recorded at least one shot on goal in every game this season…Point (15-15—30) trails only Steven Stamkos (16-18—34) for the Lightning team lead in goals while ranking third in points and fourth in assists…Point leads Tampa Bay and is tied for fourth in the NHL with four game-winning goals, equaling his total over 66 games last season…Since the start of the 2018-19 season, Point ranks third among Bolts skaters in scoring.
TBL POINT LEADERS SINCE 2018-19
- Steven Stamkos – 338 pts. (149-189—338, 286 GP)
- Nikita Kucherov – 324 pts. (110-214—324, 225 GP)
- Brayden Point – 292 pts. (132-160—292, 295 GP)
- Victor Hedman – 253 pts. (53-200—253, 298 GP)
- Alex Killorn – 203 pts. (92-111—203, 316 GP)
KLUTCHEROV
Tampa Bay forward Nikita Kucherov recorded three assists Dec. 13 vs. SEA…With his second helper of the game, Kucherov reached 400 career assists in his 590th career game, the sixth-fewest games needed to reach the mark among active players…Kucherov is the fifth player in Bolts franchise history to hit the 400-assist mark with the club…Kucherov has recorded 29 career three-assist games, the most in Lightning franchise history…Kucherov has picked up points in five straight games (1-6—7) and eight of his last nine (1-13—14)…Kucherov (11-31—42) has the second-most assists and fifth-most points among NHL skaters…Kucherov’s 19 power-play points are tied for the thirdmost in the NHL, while his 1.5 Points per game rank fourth…Since Nov. 19, only Connor McDavid (16) has recorded more assists than Kucherov’s 15…Kucherov leads the Bolts in points, assists, power-play points, even-strength points (23) and shots (100)…Kucherov has recorded points in 14 of 16 home games this season (7-19—26) and 23 of 28 games overall.
NHL ASSIST LEADERS
- Connor McDavid – 33 assists (26-33—59, 30 GP)
- Nikita Kucherov – 31 assists (11-31—42, 28 GP)
- Leon Draisaitl – 30 assists (21-30—51, 30 GP)
- Artemi Panarin – 29 assists (6-29—35, 30 GP)
STORM SERG
Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev picked up two assists Dec. 13 vs. SEA…With his first assist, Sergachev recorded his 200th career point and became the fourth defenseman in Bolts franchise history to record 200 points with the club…Sergachev (5-22—27) has the fifth-most points, sixth-most assists and is tied for the second-most takeaways (26) among NHL defensemen…Sergachev ranks first in blocked shots (59), second in takeaways, second in assists and fourth in points among Tampa Bay skaters…Since Nov. 13, Sergachev’s 14 assists and 17 points are both tied for the second-most among NHL defensemen.
TBL ALL-TIME POINT LEADERS, DEFENSEMEN
- Victor Hedman – 617 pts. (135-482—617, 924 GP)
- Dan Boyle – 253 pts. (66-187—253, 394 GP)
- Pavel Kubina – 243 pts. (72-171—243, 662 GP)
- Mikhail Sergachev – 201 pts. (41-160—201, 386 GP)
CRANK THE A/C
Bolts forward Anthony Cirelli recorded two assists Dec. 13 vs. SEA…Cirelli has picked up points in three straight contests and four of his five games played this season (0-6—6)…Since his season debut Dec. 3 vs. TOR, Cirelli is tied with Nikita Kucherov for the Lightning team lead with six assists…Since the start of the 2019-20 season, Cirelli leads the Lightning with 138 takeaways and is one of just three skaters with more than 100 (also: Hedman, 125; Point, 114).
HED RUSH
Tampa Bay defenseman Victor Hedman recorded two assists Dec. 13 vs. SEA…Hedman has picked up four assists over his last four contests (0-4—4)…Hedman (1-13—14) ranks sixth among Lightning skaters in assists…Hedman’s 53 shots on goal lead Bolts defensemen and are tied with Corey Perry for the fifth-most among Lightning skaters…Since the start of the 2016-17 season, Hedman leads NHL defensemen with 388 points (86-302—388).
NHL POINT LEADERS SINCE 2016-17, DEFENSEMEN
- Victor Hedman – 388 pts. (86-302—388, 454 GP)
- John Carlson – 384 pts. (87-297—384, 458 GP)
- Roman Josi – 375 pts. (94-281—375, 453 GP)
- Brent Burns – 374 pts. (90-284—374, 482 GP)
- Erik Karlsson – 313 pts. (65-248—313, 390 GP)
ROSS THE BOSS
Bolts forward Ross Colton scored one goal and added an assist Dec. 13 vs. SEA for his third multi-point game of the season…Colton has recorded four points over his last six contests (3-1—4)…Colton leads all Lightning forwards with 57 hits…Colton (7-6—13) ranks seventh among Tampa Bay skaters in goals and is tied with Corey Perry (5-8—13) for the ninth-most points…Colton’s 53.5% faceoff win percentage leads all Bolts skaters.
TBL FACEOFF WIN PERCENTAGE LEADERS
- Ross Colton – 53.5% (54-of-101)
- Steven Stamkos – 52.4% (177-of-338)
- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – 52.1% (122-of-234)
- Nick Paul – 51.4% (181-of-352)
- Brayden Point – 46.4% (160-of-345)
SCOREY PERRY
Lightning forward Corey Perry scored the game-winning goal on the power play Dec. 13 vs. SEA…Perry has recorded points in five of his last six games (2-5—7)…Perry’s eight power-play points rank fifth among Bolts skaters…Perry’s 53 shots are tied with Victor Hedman for the fifth-most among Lightning skaters…Perry’s 410 career goals are tied for the 95th-most in NHL history.
HOW ABOUT HAGEL?
Tampa Bay forward Brandon Hagel picked up his 12th assist of the season Dec. 13 vs. SEA and extended his point streak to three games (1-2—3)…Hagel leads all NHL forwards with 41 takeaways…Hagel’s 22 blocked shots trail only Steven Stamkos (24) for the Bolts team lead among forwards…Hagel has recorded seven points over his last nine games (3-4—7)…Hagel (8-12—20) is tied with Nick Paul (12-8—20) for the sixth-most points among Lightning skaters, while his 12 assists rank seventh on the team and his eight goals are tied with Alex Killorn (8-14—22) for fifth.
NHL TAKEAWAY LEADERS, FORWARDS
- Brandon Hagel – 41 TkA (28 GP)
T2. Evgeni Malkin – 35 TkA (29 GP)
T2. Mitch Marner – 35 TkA (30 GP)
- Mark Stone – 32 TkA (31 GP)
- Auston Matthews – 30 TkA (30 GP)
CERNY’S CORNER
Bolts defenseman Erik Cernak scored his first goal of the season and led all Tampa Bay skaters with five hits Dec. 13 vs. SEA…Cernak has picked up four points (1-3—4) over his last six contests…Cernak leads the Lightning with 83 hits this season and his 49 blocked shots trail only Mikhail Sergachev (59)…Cernak leads the Bolts in shorthanded time on ice per game (3:10)…Cernak has recorded a hit in 23 of his 24 games played this season.
COLE WORLD
Lightning defenseman Ian Cole picked up his third goal of the season with the game-opening tally Dec. 13 vs. SEA…Cole has recorded four points in his last six games (2-2—4)…Cole’s three goals trail only Mikhail Sergachev (5) for the team lead among defensemen, while has 10 points rank third…Cole’s plus-nine rating leads all Bolts defenders.
