The Tampa Bay Lightning visit the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena on Thursday, November 12, 2026, with puck drop set for 7:00 PM EST.
Matchup: Tampa Bay Lightning (12-4-2, 26 points in 2026-27) at Columbus Blue Jackets (7-9-0, 14 points in 2026-27)
Date: Thursday, November 12, 2026
Puck drop: 7:00 PM EST
Venue: Nationwide Arena
How to watch: CBJ: WWHO, CBJHN, CBJNHL · TBL: The Spot
Tampa Bay Lightning News & Notes
Tampa Bay closed out its road trip stop in Buffalo with an 8-3 win on Wednesday, with Nikita Kucherov scoring a natural hat trick in the third period. John Carlson had a five-point night, reaching 800 career points in the process. The eight-goal output was the club’s largest of the trip, and the Lightning now continue on to Columbus, where they face the Blue Jackets on Thursday night.
The hat trick added to a body of work built entirely in one uniform. Kucherov, selected 58th overall by Tampa Bay in the 2011 draft, has played 891 games across 13 seasons with the Lightning, collecting 1,139 points on 405 goals and 734 assists, along with two Hart Trophies, three Art Ross Trophies and two Stanley Cups. He won the Hart last season after a 130-point campaign in 76 games that included 44 goals and a plus-43 rating.
Columbus Blue Jackets News & Notes
Conor Garland will not face Florida and is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury, according to Blue Jackets beat reporter Aaron Portzline, leaving Columbus to reshuffle its forward group again. The absence removes a top-six option at a point when the club is already working through lineup changes. Separately, Columbus has been listening to trade offers on Dmitri Voronkov, with the power forward drawing interest from other clubs since late October.
Tampa Bay Lightning Projected Lines
Line 1: Brandon Hagel – Anthony Cirelli – Nikita Kucherov
Line 2: Jake Guentzel – Sam O’Reilly – Yanni Gourde
Line 3: Ilya Mikheyev – Zemgus Girgensons – Pontus Holmberg
Line 4: Jeffrey Viel – Conor Geekie – Scott Sabourin
Pair 1: Ryan McDonagh – Erik Cernak
Pair 2: Charle-Edouard D’Astous – John Carlson
Pair 3: Victor Hedman – J.J. Moser
Goaltenders: Andrei Vasilevskiy – Dennis Hildeby
Tampa Bay Lightning Special Teams
Power play, First unit: Jake Guentzel – Sam O’Reilly – Nikita Kucherov – John Carlson – Charle-Edouard D’Astous
Power play, Second unit: Conor Geekie – Anthony Cirelli – Pontus Holmberg – Brandon Hagel – Victor Hedman
Penalty kill, First unit: Anthony Cirelli – Brandon Hagel – Ryan McDonagh – Erik Cernak
Penalty kill, Second unit: Zemgus Girgensons – Ilya Mikheyev – Victor Hedman – J.J. Moser
Columbus Blue Jackets Projected Lines
Line 1: Matthew Knies – Sean Monahan – Kent Johnson
Line 2: Dmitri Voronkov – Adam Fantilli – Valeri Nichushkin
Line 3: Cole Sillinger – Charlie Coyle – Mathieu Olivier
Line 4: Ryan Lomberg – Jack Williams – Steven Lorentz
Pair 1: Zach Werenski – Damon Severson
Pair 2: Ivan Provorov – Denton Mateychuk
Pair 3: Dante Fabbro – Erik Gudbranson
Goaltenders: Cam Talbot – Jet Greaves
Columbus Blue Jackets Special Teams
Power play, First unit: Matthew Knies – Sean Monahan – Charlie Coyle – Zach Werenski – Kent Johnson
Power play, Second unit: Valeri Nichushkin – Adam Fantilli – Dmitri Voronkov – Denton Mateychuk – Ivan Provorov
Penalty kill, First unit: Sean Monahan – Valeri Nichushkin – Denton Mateychuk – Ivan Provorov
Penalty kill, Second unit: Charlie Coyle – Mathieu Olivier – Zach Werenski – Damon Severson
Players To Watch
Jake Guentzel — Tampa Bay Lightning
Guentzel put up four assists on just one shot last time out, so the finishing touch may still be coming. Box Score Junkie has him at a 63.4% Corsi-for with 74.0 shot attempts for per 60 this season, plus 10 goals on 7.4 expected. With Brayden Point on IR, his minutes and shot volume should only grow.
Zach Werenski — Columbus Blue Jackets
Werenski fired six shots in 28:02 last game without getting on the scoresheet, and that workload makes him the Blue Jackets’ most reliable shots-on-goal prop. Box Score Junkie credits him with 11.3 high-danger expected goals generated while on the ice this season, though just two goals on 3.1 of his own expected.
Injury Report
Tampa Bay Lightning
Erik Cernak (D) — Out, Undisclosed, expected back Saturday, November 14
Brayden Point (C) — Injured Reserve, Undisclosed, expected back Wednesday, December 2
Columbus Blue Jackets: no report available.
Betting Odds
Moneyline (DraftKings, as of November 12 at 4:12 AM ET): Tampa Bay Lightning -118, Columbus Blue Jackets -102.
Odds change through the day; check the sportsbook before betting. 21+. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.
Next Up
Tampa Bay Lightning: host the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday, November 14.
Columbus Blue Jackets: host the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday, November 14.