TAMPA, Fla. — The Lightning are still committing too many turnovers. Still making too many ill-timed passes that lead to odd-man rushes. Still getting caught looking too often in the defensive zone.
The Lightning weren’t at their best Sunday night, but still earned two points with a 4-3 overtime victory on defenseman Victor Hedman’s winner just 10 seconds into the 3-on-3 session.
Off the opening faceoff, Hedman struck a wrister from the point and past Columbus goaltender Elvis Merzlikins, his second overtime winner of the season.
The Lightning can clinch a playoff berth Monday with a Nashville loss to Florida.
Tampa Bay rookie forward Alex Barre-Boulet’s first NHL goal was an important one, a tying third-period power-play score. Barre-Boulet redirected a pass from Ondrej Palat, who had three points Sunday, across the slot and inside the far post, tying the score at 3 at the 2:41 mark in the third.
Palat had a three-point game — one goal and two assists — and Brayden Point assisted on two Lightning goals, marking a strong game for the team’s top forward line.
After taking a tremendous pass through the neutral zone from Palat, Point charged through the right circle and fed Mathieu Joseph across the crease for a tip-in on the near post with 8:10 left in the second period to tie the score at 2-all.
Forward Eric Robinson scored two goals for Columbus, including a go-ahead score 55 seconds into the third period.
The Lightning allowed two goals in the final minutes of the first period, in which they had created a number of solid offensive looks.
Tampa Bay seemed to get caught looking in its own zone late in the first and paid for it, making easier work for Columbus, which scored two goals on just five first-period shots.
Mikhail Grigorenko found the puck on his stick with an open look from the slot and beat Andrei Vasilevskiy with 2:44 left in the first period. Grigorenko’s shot came after Columbus defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov puck on net kicked off Vasilevskiy and out to Grigorenko between the hashes.
The Blue Jackets’ second goal of the period was a back breaker, coming with just 31 seconds left when Robinson beat Yanni Gourde for the puck behind the net and beat Vasilevskiy with a wraparound move as defensemen Ryan McDonagh and Erik Cernak watched.
The Blue Jackets entered the night having lost eight straight games and 15 of their past 17 under former Lightning coach John Tortorella, sinking into last place in the Central Division.
The Lightning took a 1-0 lead with 8:10 left in the first period on a well-placed feed from Point, who won the puck behind the net and found Palat along the near post, where Palat beat Joonas Korpisalo top shelf.
Palat, who snapped a 13-game goal drought with a winning score in the Lightning’s victory over Columbus on Thursday, had a wide-open chance earlier in the game Sunday but shot it wide across the mouth of the net and past the far post.
But Palat’s pass to Point on Joseph’s goal might have been his best play of the night, flicking the puck from the near boards off the past both blue lines and off the far boards and onto Point’s stick, letting Point work in open ice and capitalize on a 2-on-1 rush with Joseph.
The Lightning dominated play in the second period, outshooting the Blue Jackets 16-5 in the period and creating 15 scoring opportunities, including five high-danger scoring chances, according to NaturalStatTrick.com.
