Kirill Marchenko's two goals not enough for Columbus Blue Jackets in Tampa: 3 takeaways

The Blue Jackets are running out of NHL players as another injury-marred season runs out.

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What they still have with three games remaining is moxie while facing a barrage of the league’s best teams while supremely shorthanded and miles from playoff contention. Despite 11 players not available Tuesday at Amalie Arena, including Carson Meyer leaving after two shifts, the Blue Jackets gave the Tampa Bay Lightning a challenge in frustrating 5-2 loss for their second consecutive defeat.

“Collectively, we played really well," Blue Jackets coach Pascal Vincent said. "We didn’t finish around the net, but we played (well) in all three zones and we didn’t give up much. We track the (scoring) chances, for and against, and usually it’s a pretty good indication on who’s going to win the game. Right now, our numbers are 22 chances for, and we gave up only 14, which is a real good game against any team in the NHL, let alone the Tampa Bay Lightning.”

According to Natural Stat Trick's tracking, Columbus had a 27-20 edge scoring chances at 5-on-5 that included a 6-5 edge in high-danger chances. Factoring in all situations, it was 31-22 in scoring chances and 8-6 high-danger favoring the Blue Jackets, who had six players finish with an expected goal number higher than one — as calculated by Natural Stat Trick.

Johnny Gaudreau and Justin Danforth were two of them, including two unsuccessful breakaways for the latter that Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy (31 saves) snagged while the game was close.

“We’re a fast team, especially my line with (Danforth)," Gaudreau said. "He’s extremely fast and he’s so good down low in the corners, working hard for pucks and retrieving pucks. He had two breakaways because of his speed, so that could be the difference in the game ... burying those two. But they found a way to score in the third (period) on their scoring chances and that was the game.”

Kirill Marchenko scored two goals for the Blue Jackets (26-41-12), including a power-play tally in the second for a 2-1 lead. The Lighting (44-27-7) responded by scoring the next four goals.

Steven Stamkos had a hat trick and four points with a three-goal game, while Nikita Kucherov added three more points on assists for a mind-boggling scoring line thus far of 43 goals, 96 assists and 139 points in 77 games. Stamkos' first goal tied it 2-2 on a power-play late in the second before he and Anthony Cirelli broke the tie with goals 16 seconds apart in the third.

Stamkos' third goal was tucked into an empty net to seal the win. Rookie Jet Greaves made his sixth appearance of the season in net for the Blue Jackets (26-41-12), allowing four goals on 32 shots.

Here are three takeaways:

Columbus Blue Jackets’ injury plague continues against Tampa Bay Lightning

The Blue Jackets lost an assistant coach and a forward before the game began, and then lost Meyer early in the first period.

Assistant Steve McCarthy headed back to Columbus for a personal reason, which moved assistant Josef Boumedienne from the press box onto the bench, Alex Nylander left pregame warmup with a lower-body injury and Meyer took a shoulder to the face at 7:21 of the first on a hit by Lightning center Adam Glendening that should've drawn a penalty.

The only difference from last season’s massive injury woes is timing. This year's rash didn’t hit until about a month ago, long after the Jackets’ playoff hopes had already disappeared. Last season, it was start-to-finish for a franchise record 545 man-games lost.

Otherwise, the past few weeks have felt exactly the same. After Meyer left, the Blue Jackets were down 11 players plus an assistant coach due to injuries or personal situations ― including captain Boone Jenner (personal) and the Jackets’ top two goalies, Elvis Merzlikins (lower body) and Daniil Tarasov (upper body). Danforth, who returned April 1 from an 11-game concussion absence, has also been touch-and-go with an undisclosed issue. He skated 16:44 on 20 shifts.

Kirill Marchenko continues to power shorthanded Columbus Blue Jackets

Marchenko’s goals were his fourth and fifth in the Jackets’ past six games to set a career high on his 22^nd and 23^rd tallies of the season.

During that stretch, the Blue Jackets have battled major injury issues that have removed a big chunk of scoring help from the lineup. Marchenko has capitalized on his increased role by either sparking the Blue Jackets’ offense or pulling them back into games they’ve fallen behind. His first goal against the Lightning beat Vasilevskiy with 42.2 seconds left in the first to tie it 1-1 just 2:46 after Brayden Point opened the scoring. The second put the Blue Jackets up 2-1 at 7:13 of the second to cap a power play.

Prior to facing the Lightning, Marchenko scored a tying goal late in the first period of a 4-2 loss April 4 to the New York Islanders, opened the scoring April 1 in a 4-1 victory over the Colorado Avalanche and sparked a late comeback March 30 in a 4-3 shootout victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Marchenko also enjoys playing the Lighting. He has five goals, one assist and six points in five career games against Tampa Bay.

Johnny Gaudreau, Zach Werenski reach milestones in loss to Tampa Bay Lightning

Marchenko’s second goal was a milestone moment for all three players who were credited for scoring it.

It pushed Marchenko’s career high in goals for a single season to 23, after he’d already set a new career mark with his first in the game. It also gave Johnny Gaudreau his 500^th career assist and Werenski his 44^th assist of the season.

Werenski tied a franchise record for assists in a single season by a Blue Jackets defenseman, set in 2013-14 by James Wisniewski, and the helper was his 53^rd point. That’s four shy of tying Seth Jones for most by a Blue Jackets defenseman in one season.

bhedger@dispatch.com

@BrianHedger

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Marchenko not enough for Columbus Blue Jackets in Tampa: 3 takeaways