Conor Garland Leads Blue Jackets to 5-2 Victory Over Lightning.

Columbus Blue Jackets Forward Conor Garland scored twice to help his team defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-2 on Tuesday night in Tampa, Florida. Garland, who was acquired from the Vancouver Canucks at the trade deadline, has now scored four goals in two games after failing to find the net in his previous 24 games with Vancouver. His second goal of the night came on a power play in the third period, providing an insurance goal for Columbus.

Other Blue Jackets goal scorers included Kiril Marchenko, Dante Fabbro, and Ivan Provorov. Goaltender Elvis Merzlikins stopped 15 shots and recorded his second assist of the season. The Blue Jackets have posted a 15-2-3 record over their past 20 games. Tampa Bay initially took the lead when Nikita Kucherov made a fake-shot pass to Gage Goncalves, who one-touched a pass to Victor Hedman for a tipped slap shot at 13:38 of the first period. The Lightning’s other goal came from J.J. Moser, who scored in the second period. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 26 saves in the loss, marking Tampa Bay’s second win in eight games since the Olympic break. The Blue Jackets will travel to play the Florida Panthers on Thursday, while the Lightning will host the Detroit Red Wings.