Facing the 10-1-0 Winnipeg Jets was going to be a challenge for the Lightning.. They didn’t meet the challenge. Sloppy puck play cost them dearly. It led to all five Winnipeg goals scored on Jonas Johansson and offset the four that the Lightning put in the Winnipeg net.
The Lightning were having issues executing defensive-zone clears from the beginning of the game. But they drew first blood. Following a goalmouth scramble, Brandon Hagel shot the puck past a sprawled Hellebuyck at 6:49 of the first. The Jets unsuccessfully challenged for goalie interference, and the Lightning scored on the ensuing power play. Brayden Point finished a shot from the low slot at 8:02. Unfortunately, Point played only one additional shift before sustaining an injury. The Lightning were without their top center and had to go the rest of the way with only 11 forwards.
Following the Point goal, the Jets pressed the attack for the next several minutes. Two consecutive Lightning d-zone turnovers allowed Winnipeg to hold the puck in the offensive zone. After the second turnover, Josh Morrissey set up Vlad Namestnikov at the side of the net for a redirection goal at 12:23.
Turnovers continued to plague the Lightning at the start of the second period. The Jets capitalized on two of them to grab the lead. Mitchell Chaffee’s goal off the rush at 8:33 tied the score.
An early third-period penalty on the Lightning put the Jets on the power play, which had been converting at a league-best 45.2% through Winnipeg’s first 11 games. Moments before Alex Iafallo’s power-play goal, the Lightning had a chance to clear the puck down the ice but failed to do so. Then they had a coverage breakdown, and Iafallo finished an open look from the low slot.
The Lightning tied the game again. Hagel’s forechecking pressure forced a miscue from Hellebuyck behind the Winnipeg net. Hagel hurried the puck in front, where Namestnikov intercepted it. But Nikita Kucherov poked the puck off Namestnikov’s stick and between the pads of Hellebuyck at 6:51.
The Lightning won the center ice faceoff but committed an unforced icing. The Jets won the next draw and worked the puck around the offensive zone. Although the Lightning eventually cleared the puck out to center ice, they never got fully organized. The Jets brought it back into the Tampa Bay end, and moments later, Dylan Samburg fired an open shot from the high slot past a screened Johansson at 7:38.
The Jets didn’t relinquish the lead again. The Lightning were able to apply some fairly consistent pressure in the second half of the third period, but Hellebuyck stopped all of their shots. The Jets added two empty-netters to set the final at 7-4.
The Lightning will look to clean up their puck management issues when they wrap up the trip on Tuesday in St. Louis.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game:
- Mark Scheifele — Jets. Goal and assist.
- Vlad Namestnikov — Jets. Goal and assist.
- Josh Morrissey — Jets. Two assists.
