Blue Jackets lose third straight, only manage one goal against Tampa Bay

Thursday, November 12, 2026
By Ed Francis
efrancis@cbussports.com

CBJ's Jet Graves makes save

Columbus Blue Jacket goaltender Jet Greaves (73) makes a save on a shot from Tampa Bay’s Brandon Hagel during the Lightning’s 3-1 win at Nationwide Arena on Thursday. Photo: Kevin Rouch

CBJ scorebug graphic

The good news is that Matthew Knies scored for the first time since a pair of goals on opening night.

The bad news? It was the lone goal for the Columbus Blue Jackets, who dropped their third straight game Thursday night in a 3-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning at Nationwide Arena.

Brandon Hagel opened the scoring just 2:57 into the game for the Lightning, but Knies answered with a power-play goal at 12:20 of the first period.

After a scoreless second period, Jake Guentzel scored what would be the game-winning goal for Tampa Bay just over one minute into the third, with Hagel getting his second of the night just over six minutes later to put the game out of reach.

Jet Greaves made 25 saves for Columbus, while Lightning backup goaltender Dennis Hildeby stopped 28 shots for Tampa Bay.

The Blue Jackets have now scored just five goals (plus a shootout goal) in their last four games.

“At the end of the day we’ve gotta score more goals than the other team to win,” said defenseman Ivan Provorov. “We haven’t done that, so until we figure out how to put the puck in the net, we won’t win any games.”

With head coach Rick Bowness sidelined by illness, assistant coach Don Granato handled duties behind the Blue Jackets bench.

“When you don’t score, your margin is zero,” said Granato.

Here’s how the Blue Jackets picked up a season-high third consecutive loss:

TB: 1, CBJ: 0 (1ST PERIOD, 17:03 REMAINING)

Tampa quickly moves into Columbus’ zone and scores the first goal of the game. Charle-Édouard D’Astous skates in and fires a shot from the high slot that Greaves turns aside, but the rebound bounces right to Hagel, who had gotten behind the Blue Jackets defense. Positioned just outside of the crease, Hagel collects the loose puck and tucks it past Greaves to make it 1-0 Lightning.

TB: 1, CBJ: 1 (1ST PERIOD, 7:40 REMAINING)

Knies gets the power play goal, but Kent Johnson makes it happen. Just 18 seconds into the man-advantage, Johnson sends a perfect pass toward the front of the net, where Knies is positioned just outside the crease to redirect the puck past Hildeby. He does so and guides it underneath Hildeby’s blocker to tie the game at 1-1.

TB: 2, CBJ: 1 (3RD PERIOD, 18:54 REMAINING)

Less than a minute into the third, the Lightning take the lead. John Carlson pulls back on a shot from the high slot and skates towards the board, where he plays it around behind the net. That’s where Hagel is waiting and within just a few seconds, he sees Guentzel skate in the left faceoff circle. Guentzel quickly fires and it squirts past Greaves as Tampa regains the lead.

TB: 3, CBJ: 1 (3RD PERIOD, 12:19 REMAINING)

Columbus maintains possession in Tampa’s zone for an extended stretch, but the Lightning strike quickly after forcing a turnover. Knies tries to reset the play behind the net but is pressured by multiple Tampa Bay defenders and loses the puck. It ends up on the stick of Guentzel, and he feeds Hagel, whose sharp-angled shot gets past Greaves. It’s Hagel’s second of the night and makes it a 3-1 Lightning lead.

QUICK THOUGHTS: Tampa is good, but they were on the second night of a back-to-back. They were also without Brayden Point and Anthony Cirelli, two of their six leading scorers. Also out of the lineup was defenseman Erik Cernak and forward Yanni Gourde. One of the best goalies in the world, Andrei Vasilevskiy, had the night off. Five good players out of the lineup and Columbus could not take advantage.

The inconsistency of this team is infuriating. The offense struggles to generate anything with regularity, goals are far too difficult to come by, and even when the defense puts together long stretches of solid hockey, you can rest assured that an inexplicable breakdown is on the way.

It’s the same frustrating story over and over (and over) again, and at some point, you have to wonder what it’s going to take for this team to put together a complete 60-minute effort. Are they good enough to do it? This conference is very tough and time is quickly running out. Answers won’t do any good in 2027. It’s quickly becoming now-or-never.

NEXT UP: Columbus’ three-game homestand comes to an end Saturday night with a divisional battle against the Philadelphia Flyers. Puck-drop is 7:00 p.m.