Lightning play the Blue Jackets following Kucherov's hat trick

The Tampa Bay Lightning visit the Columbus Blue Jackets after Nikita Kucherov recorded a hat trick in the Lightning's 8-3 win over the Buffalo SabresByThe Associated PressNovember 12, 2026, 4:11 AMTampa Bay Lightning (12-4-2, in the Atlantic Division) vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (7-9, in the Metropolitan Division)Columbus, Ohio; Thursday, 7 p.m. ESTLINE: Lightning -118, Blue Jackets -104; over/under is 6.5BOTTOM LINE: The Tampa Bay Lightning visit the Columbus Blue Jackets after Nikita Kucherov recorded a hat trick in the Lightning's 8-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres.Columbus has gone 6-4-0 in home games and 7-9 overall. The Blue Jackets are 2-5-0 in games they have more penalties than their opponent.Tampa Bay is 3-4-2 on the road and 12-4-2 overall. The Lightning have gone 6-2-0 when they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent.Thursday's game is the first time these teams square off this season.TOP PERFORMERS: Denton Mateychuk has scored four goals with three assists for the Blue Jackets. Kent Johnson has four goals and seven assists over the last 10 games.Brandon Hagel has 11 goals and 10 assists for the Lightning. Jake Guentzel has scored six goals with seven assists over the last 10 games.Popular ReadsLAST 10 GAMES: Blue Jackets: 4-6-0, averaging 2.3 goals, 4.5 assists, three penalties and 7.3 penalty minutes while giving up 2.8 goals per game.Lightning: 6-2-2, averaging 4.6 goals, 7.6 assists, 3.6 penalties and eight penalty minutes while giving up 3.3 goals per game.INJURIES: Blue Jackets: Conor Garland: out (upper-body), Isac Lundestrom: out (achilles).Lightning: Brayden Point: out (undisclosed), Erik Cernak: day to day (undisclosed).___The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.Sponsored Content by Taboola