Tuesday, 4 a.m.
If you're thinking about last season, no, it didn't mean a thing.
Despite the Lightning's 2-1 overtime victory over Columbus Monday, the facts say that the Lighting was still swept in disappointing fashion by the Blue Jackets They still laid an egg. The sting still lingers.
Ah, but if you're thinking about this season, the Lightning's latest victory made another nice regular-season statement.
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No Stamkos (injury).
No Vasilevskiy (night off).
And still, the Bolts had enough to beat Columbus on the road when Nikita Kucherov scored 31 seconds into extra time. It was Kucherov's second goal of the night, and his 10th in 11 games. He has 27 on the year.
Kuacherov had eight shots on the night..
The win was the Lightning's 19th (with one overtime loss) in his last 22 games.
Kucherov's winner came after Brayden Point stole a puck behind the goal from Zack Werenski, then passed to Victor Hedman. Hedman in turn passed to Kucherov, who ended things.
"Just be in the moment," Point said. "That (playoff loss) still lingers in our room. We wanted to take care of the night."
The Lightning plays in Pittsburgh tonight. The puck is scheduled to drop at 7 p.m.
Goaltender Curtis McElhinney made 31 saves. He is now 7-6 on the season.