Lightning vs Blue Jackets

Nikita Kucherov and the Lightning will head to Columbus for a showdown with Zach Werenski and the Blue Jackefs Saturday night. The Lightning enter Saturday night’s game with a record of 32-13-4 which places them at the top of the Atlantic Division. The Blue Jackets enter Saturday night’s game with a record of 23-20-7 which puts them in 7th place of the Metropolitan Division.

The Lightning and Jackets last played each other on October 18th, 2025 which saw the Lightning come on short in that contest. The last time these two teams suited up against each other, Tampa was just starting to get their form in the right direction. Now the Lightning will head to Columbus looking to extend their point streak to 15 games. The Blue Jackets enter this game with a win against the Dallas Stars.

The Columbus Blue Jackets are a team that has some solid young talent upfront in their forward group, but also in their pipeline of prospects. Adam Fantili is a guy who’s going to become a star in this league and he’s well on his way at the age of 21 years old. Zach Werenski is most definitely a superstar defenseman on the backend of their defense who doesn’t get as much attention due to ability to stay healthy. When healthy, Werenski is a top 10 defenseman. Kirill Marchenko is another guy on this team who is a legit goal scorer and doesn’t get the same amount of media attention as other players.

Adam Fantilli and Zach Werenski via NHL.Com

There will be several changes to both teams lineups since the first meeting of the season. The Lightning and Blue Jackets will be without the following players in Saturday night’s game:

Lightning

• Brayden Point (Lower Body)

• Victor Hedman (Elbow)

• Ryan Mcdonagh (Lower Body)

Blue Jackets

• Dante Fabbro (Lower Body)

• Miles Wood (Leg)

• Denton Mateychuk (Upper Body)

The goalie matchups will be similar to the last meeting with Jonas Johansson in net for the Lightning. Jonas Johansson enters Saturday with a record of 10-6 .896 save percentage and 2.73 goals against average. The Blue Jackets will most likely have Jet Greaves in net with a record of 15-12 .910 save percentage and a 2.62 goals against average.