Look away, Senators fans!
Matt Duchene was all over the score sheet Friday as the Columbus Blue Jackets center led his team to a dominant 5-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 2 of their 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs first-round series. The former Ottawa player registered a goal and three assists as the Blue Jackets took a commanding 2-0 lead in the series, proving himself a valuable late-season addition by Columbus.
Duchene played the role of provider in the first period Friday, recording an assist on Cam Atkinson's marker 5:15 into the game before providing the helper on Zach Werenski's goal just over six minutes later.
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Less than 90 seconds into the second period, Duchene found the back of the net himself after pouncing on his own rebound on a power play to put Columbus up 3-0.
Duchene then returned to the role of goal creator in the third period, notching his third assist and fourth point on Artemi Panarin's first goal of the playoffs. The Haliburton, Ont., native's four points set a Blue Jackets playoff record.
Matt Duchene collected 1-3—4 to establish a @BlueJacketsNHL record for most points in a postseason game.
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) April 13, 2019
He eclipsed the previous mark of three set by Artemi Panarin (1-2—3 in Game 1 of 2018 R1) and matched by Zach Werenski (1-2—3 in Game 2 of 2018 R1). #NHLStats #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/VJ3oeWtft3
The 28-year-old Duchene (with Julius Bergman) was traded to Columbus on Feb. 22 in exchange for Vitaly Abramov, Jonathan Davidsson and conditional first-round picks in the 2019 and 2020 drafts. The 10th-year veteran recorded 12 points in 23 regular season games after joining the Blue Jackets.