Lightning Outlast Blue Jackets in Historic, Five OT Thriller

The Lightning beat the Blue Jackets 3–2 in five overtimes Tuesday, giving the Lightning a 1–0 advantage to open the first round series. 

Tampa Bay center Brayden Point scored the game-winning goal more than halfway into the fifth and final frame.

The game marked the fourth-longest in NHL playoff history.

Pierre-Luc Dubois opened the scoring for the Blue Jackets just over two minutes into the first period. Point, however, evened the score less than four minutes later to get the Lightning on the board.

Columbus took a 2–1 lead after two periods, but Tampa Bay scored just 23 seconds into the third period to level the score. That goal occurred at 5:05 p.m. ET, more than four hours before the game-winning goal.

Blue Jackets goalie Joonas Korpisalo set a new NHL record for most saves in a playoff game with 85. The two teams also combined for 151 shots, the highest combined single-game total by two teams since shots on goal were officially tracked in 1955–56.

Blue Jackets defenseman also Seth Jones set an NHL record for most minutes played in one game, finishing with 65:06.

Columbus and Tampa Bay started the contest at 3 p.m. ET. As a result of the length of the contest, Game 1 between the Bruins and Hurricanes, which was originally set for 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday, was rescheduled for Wednesday at 11 a.m. ET. 

The Blue Jackets and Lightning are set to play Game 2 on Thursday.