COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Steven Stamkos only recently became a regular on the Tampa Bay Lightning penalty kill unit.

In Tampa Bay's 4-0 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday, Stamkos was the Lightning's best penalty killer and the Blue Jackets' biggest heart-breaker.

Stamkos had two goals and an assist and played a key part in two third-period short-handed goals that turned a close game into a blowout at Nationwide Arena.

The Lightning carried a three-game winless streak (0-2-1) into the game.

"We needed to bounce back, and the guys did that," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "We came on the road, we got the lead and our penalty killing was outstanding.

"Getting the short-handed goals was a huge bonus to pull out of there."

Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop was booed every time he touched the puck after two run-ins with Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno early in the game.

However, Bishop got the last word on Blue Jackets' fans, making 37 saves for his fourth shutout of the season and the 16th of his career.

"I love that stuff," Bishop said. "It's like college. It gets you going. I wouldn't expect anything less."

The win pulled Tampa Bay into second place in the Atlantic Division, only one point back of the Boston Bruins.

Stamkos now has 31 goals on the season. Vladislav Namestnikov and Ondrej Palat also scored for the Lightning.

The Blue Jackets lost for the third time in four games and were swept in the three-game season series by the Lightning.

"It's frustrating," Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said. "They guys are frustrated, too. I thought they played hard, stuck together and kept grinding. But it needs to be a lesson learned that we just stick with it, not try to do anything too risky. Basically, we blew up."

The Lightning quickly turned a tense 1-0 game into a cakewalk.

At 8:45 of the third period, Blue Jackets defenseman Dalton Prout had an outlet pass deflected from deep inside his own zone.

Tampa Bay's Tyler Johnson, who deflected it, tracked down the loose puck and fed Namestnikov for his 12th goal of the season.

The Blue Jackets seemed to lose a lot of starch on Namestnikov's goal, but a power play at 9:17 might have given them new life.

Instead, Stamkos and Palat put considerable pressure on Blue Jackets' power play point men Ryan Murray and Seth Jones, forcing a turnover that Palat turned into a breakaway.

He fed Stamkos, who was trailing the play, for a wide-open look on Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, making it 3-0.

Stamkos, who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, reached the 30-goal mark for the fifth time in eight NHL seasons.

Less than four minutes later -- this time with the Blue Jackets on a four-minute power play after Lightning forward Ryan Callahan was given a double minor for high-sticking -- Palat and Stamkos struck again.

This time Stamkos fed Palat for the finish to make it 4-0 with 5:21 remaining.

"We're both pretty smart and making the right reads," Stamkos said of himself and Palat. "It's been my first consistent chance on the penalty kill, and it's been working. I've been trying to approach like any other facet of the game, where you're always trying to create offense.

"Pally can make the plays, and it's reassuring when you've got a guy like that with you, a guy who does whatever it takes. You saw tonight the plays we made together."

The Lightning played much of the game without forwards Valtteri Filppula or Nikita Kucherov due to injury.

Filppula left in the first period with an undisclosed ailment. Kucherov left in the second period after he was sucker-punched by Prout in a scrum behind the Jackets' goal.

Cooper did not have an update on either player after the game.

Prout's punch was being reviewed by the NHL for possible supplemental discipline.

Bobrovsky finished with 33 saves.

NOTES: Blue Jackets LW Brandon Saad returned after a three-game absence with an upper-body injury. Saad told The Columbus Dispatch that he was dealing with lingering side effects, which suggests a concussion. ... The Lightning recalled RW Mike Blunden from AHL Syracuse and put him in the lineup in place of C Cedric Paquette. ... Blue Jackets RW David Clarkson is hurt again. He has played in only 23 games this season because of a series of injuries. The club won't specify the ailment this time.