The Blue Jackets can talk all they want about not giving up on this rapidly deteriorating season.
The proof of the team's status made clear when stalwart defenseman David Savard was made a healthy scratch before Columbus's game Thursday night against Tampa Bay. Teams with a realistic chance for the playoffs don't bench a top-four defenseman.
The Jackets then played as if they realized the season was a lost cause. Tampa scored four first-period goals and cruised to a 6-4 victory at Nationwide Arena.
The decision to sit Savard might have been a prudent one. With the NHL trade deadline on Monday, the Jackets wanted to safeguard against an injury that would hurt Savard's value.
Savard is a rugged defender who's been an integral part of Columbus's success in recent years. But with the Jackets' playoff hopes all but gone after losing six of their last eight, the future is more important than the present.
The Jackets (15-19-8) missed Savard's grit against the Lightning. Tampa Bay (27-11-2) scored three times on 10 shots in the first six minutes, causing Jackets coach John Tortorella to yank goaltender Joonas Korpisalo.
Michael Del Zotto scored late in the period to give the Jackets some life, but that was extinguished when Tampa scored with .4 seconds left on Elvis Merzlikins.
The Jackets were hoping to build on their 4-2 victory Tuesday against the Lightning. That was the fifth loss in seven games for the defending Stanley Cup champions, and Tampa played as if it had something to prove.
The Lightning scored only 58 seconds into the game. Jackets left wing Patrik Laine couldn't get control of the puck along the boards at center ice, creating a 2-on-1 for Tampa. Blake Coleman scored on a pass from Gourde, the first of four assists by the center.
The Lightning struck again four minutes later when Steven Stamkos beat Korpisalo on a wrist shot from the left side. They made it 3-0 exactly a minute later when Barclay Goodrow scored to chase Korpisalo.
The Jackets finally answered with less than 3 minutes left in the period when Del Zotto took a nice cross-ice pass from Roslovic and beat Andrei Vasilevskiy.
But Columbus's chance to go into intermission with momentum was squashed when Tampa scored in the final second of the period. Merzlikins saved the first shot on a Lightning rush, but Ryan McDonagh trickled a shot under the goalie's pads as time expired.
Tampa made it 5-1 early in the second period. The sequence was started when Jack Roslovic turned the puck over in the Lightning zone. Ross Colton finished it off.
Roslovic got the goal back when he beat Vasilevskiy to the short side to get it back to a three-goal deficit. But McDonagh, who was defending against Roslovic on that goal, answered with his second goal to make it 6-2.
Columbus defenseman Zach Werenski scored on an assist by Alexandre Texier for the final goal with just over 9 minutes left. Max Domi had the final goal with 45 seconds left to make the score deceptively close.
