The Columbus Blue Jackets [http://thn.com/columbus] are back home for the third game of a five-game home stand to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning [http://thn.com/tampabay] at 7 PM. Tampa Bay Lightning - 32-13-4 - 68 Points - 9-0-1 in the last 10 - Won 2 - 2nd in the Atlantic Columbus Blue Jackets - 23-20-7 - 51 Points - 5-4-1 in the last 10 - Won 1 - 7th in the Metro Team Notes Per CBJ PR * Columbus won for the fifth time in the last six games overall since Jan. 11 (5-1-0) and collected points in five of its past six home contests since Jan. 3 (4-1-1) with a 1-0 shutout victory over Dallas on Thursday. * The club continues a season-long five-game homestand on Saturday and is in a stretch of seven-of-eight games played at Nationwide Arena from Jan. 13-28 (3-1-0). * The Jackets scored the lone goal on Thursday in the opening period. The club has scored the first goal in 14 of the last 19 contests and 17 of the past 24 and ranks T-sixth in the NHL in games scoring first in 2025-26 (29). * Columbus leads the NHL in goals by defensemen and ranks fourth in points with 38-87-125 in 50 contests. * The Blue Jackets (9-5-1) rank fifth in the NHL in team save percentage (.912), T-eighth in goals-against per game (2.67) and 11th in points pct. (.633) since Dec. 22. Player Notes Per CBJ PR * Charlie Coyle, who is one goal shy from 200 for his NHL career, became the fifth player to play in his 1,000th game while in a Blue Jackets uniform (Sergei Fedorov, Vinny Prospal, Scott Hartnell, Jakub Voracek) on Thursday. * Jet Greaves turned aside all 28 shots faced on Thursday for his first shutout of the season. He leads the NHL in saves and ranks fourth-T in wins and sixth-T in SV% since Dec. 22 (min. 6 GP) with a 7-3-1 record, 2.32 GAA, .922 SV% and 320 saves in 12 games. * Boone Jenner sits three assists from tying David Vyborny (204) for third on the club's all-time list in assists. * Kirill Marchenko has notched points in 11 of the last 15 contests dating back to Dec. 22 (8-7-15). * Mathieu Olivier combined for 26 hits in the last five contests and ranks second in the NHL with 67 hits since returning from injury on Dec. 28. * Zach Werenski leads NHL blueliners in goals (19) and multi-point efforts (17) and sits one goal from becoming the third American defenseman in NHL history with two-straight 20-goal seasons (Phil Housley-6, Reed Larson-5). He has points in 25 of his past 30 contests overall to lead league defensemen in goals, points and points-per-game since Nov. 13 (15-27-42, 1.40). Blue Jackets Stats * Power Play - 19.4% - 19th in the NHL * Penalty Kill - 75.7% - 28th in the NHL * Goals For - 145 - 21st in the NHL * Goals Against - 163 - 24th in the NHL Lightning Stats * Power Play - 20.7% - 14th in the NHL * Penalty Kill - 84.2% - 3rd in the NHL * Goals For - 168 - 6th in the NHL * Goals Against - 119 - 2nd in the NHL Series History vs. The Lightning * Columbus is 17-29-1-6 all-time, and 12-12-1-2 at home vs. The Lightning. * The Blue Jackets are 6-4-2 in the last 12 games against the Bolts at home. * The CBJ has scored a power play goal in 4 of the last 6 games in the series against Tampa. Who To Watch For The Lightning * Brandon Hagel leads the Lightning with 25 goals. * Nikita Kucherov leads the Bolts with 49 assists and 73 points. * Goalie Jonas Johansson is 10-6-1 with a SV% of .896. * Andrei Vasilevskiy is 21-7-3 but played on Friday night against the Blackhawks. CBJ Player Notes vs. Stars * Zach Werenski has 21 points in 25 games vs. the Lightning * Charlie Coyle has 16 points in 32 games. * Kirill Marchenko has 11 points in 9 career games against Tampa Bay. Injured Reserve * Brendan Smith - Lower Body - Missed 12 Games IR - Out for the rest of the regular season. * Miles Wood - Lower Body - Missed 11 Games - Week to week. * Denton Mateychuk - Lower Body - Missed 5 Games - Day to day. TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 142 How to Watch & Listen: Tonight's game will be on FANDUEL SPORTS NETWORK. Steve Mears will be on the play-by-play. The radio broadcast will be on 97.1 The Fan, with Bob McElligott behind the mic doing the play-by-play. Stay updated with the most interesting Blue Jackets stories, analysis, breaking news, and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News [https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMK-q0gsw7sXpAw/sections/CAQqEAgAKgcICjCvqtILMO7F6QMwm-DfCA?hl=en-CA&gl=CA&ceid=CA%3Aen] and never miss a story. Let us know what you think below. For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free [https://thehockeynews.store/products/print-subscription]. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here [http://eepurl.com/i7OC4I]. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
