A 2-0 lead midway through the first period was not enough for a Tampa Bay Lightning win on Sunday as self-inflicted mistakes cost the Bolts against the Winnipeg Jets in Manitoba.
Tampa Bay was the first team on the scoreboard thanks to a Brandon Hagel goal 6 minutes, 49 seconds into the game. Brayden Point's power-play goal extended the Lightning lead to 2-0 after an unsuccessful challenge by Winnipeg on Hagel’s goal, but the home team made up for the early deficit across the game’s final 40 minutes.
The Jets scored three unanswered goals to claim their first lead in the second period, and the Lightning couldn’t pull off the comeback in a 7-4 loss at Canada Life Centre. The Lightning tied the game at scores of 3-3 and 4-4 after facing a pair of deficits, but a Dylan Samberg goal sunk the final result.
“I feel like we had a really good start. We scored a couple goals, everything was going our way,” Tampa Bay defenseman Eriik Cernak said. “And then unfortunately a couple mistakes and they capitalized on that. So it’s tough to see, you know? We just have to battle through and just have to be better.”
Tampa Bay got the start they wanted in Sunday’s matinee. Hagel scored the game’s first goal after a point shot hit the crossbar behind Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck. As a flurry of players crashed the blue paint, Hagel waited in the slot, where the puck found him facing an open net.
After an unsuccessful coaches challenge by Winnipeg for goaltender interference, Tampa Bay doubled their lead on Point’s fifth power-play goal, his eighth overall of 2024-25.
Sitting in the bumper position in the high slot, Point cashed a saucer pass from Nikita Kucherov 8:02 into the first.
Winnipeg’s push began with a familiar face. Former Lightning player Vladislav Namestnikov took advantage of a Tampa Bay turnover, scoring to cut the Tampa Bay lead to 2-1 with 7:37 left in the first period.
Defenseman Logan Stanley tied the game 5:49 into the second period, and another Lightning giveaway ended with a goal by Mark Scheifele after a 2-on-1 with Gabriel Vilardi at the 7:36 mark.
Lightning forward Mitchell Chaffee had the answer for Tampa Bay near the midway point of the second, tying the game 8:39 into the period. Jake Guentzel found Chaffee in open ice on the rush, and No. 41 for Tampa Bay whistled a wrist shot far post to tie the game from the right circle on his fourth goal of the season.
Winnipeg took advantage of a third-period power play, reclaiming the lead 4-3 on an Alex Iafallo goal 4:03 into the final period.
Kucherov kept the Lightning alive, as the team’s leading scorer scored his 10th goal of the season on the forecheck less than three minutes after the Iafallo tally. Kucherov caught a Winnipeg skater loose with the puck, tapping the puck off their stick and through Hellebuyck’s legs to tie the game 4-4.
A Samberg point shot changed direction off a Lightning player in the defensive zone, wobbling into the back of the Tampa Bay net for a 5-4 lead with 12:22 remaining in the game. Empty-net goals from Nikolaj Ehlers and Cole Perfetti put the final touches on the 7-4 win for the home team.
Lightning coach Jon Cooper said the last few games have been similar. Tampa Bay was tied 1-1 with the Minnesota Wild through two periods on Friday before falling 5-3.
“You never want to lose but you want to base your game on how you’re playing and for the most part we’re playing okay. We just made some really tough errors. Couple on some faceoffs and one unfortunately a really reliable player mishandles a puck, and they end up in our net. When you’re giving up the goals we’re giving up here on the road, it’s tough to win,” Cooper said.
“It’s tough because that’s kind of been the story of us of late. … Listen, you can go on winning streaks and make mistakes and they just don't go in the net,” the coach continued. “And then there’s times that you’re playing pretty well and you make a mistake and they always end up in your net. So you kind of feel like we’re in a little bit of that now.”
Forward Jake Guentzel also said the Lightning have pushed back in their last two games, but he said the team needs to push more.
“We knew they were good on the rush,” Guentzel said. “They have some high-power skill on their team, so we just gotta defend harder and we've just gotta realize that you can't give those teams like that good chances.”
Lightning goalie Jonas Johansson finished with 27 saves, while Hellebuck took the win with 26 stops. Johansson is now 1-1-0 this season.
“I thought JJ was really good,” Cernak said. “He made really good saves a couple times. Obviously it wasn't easy for him, but I think overall he did a good job.”
The Jets remain atop the NHL standings with an 11-1-0 record, while the Lightning fall to 7-5-0.
The Lightning now prepare for the final leg of their four-game road trip, one that ends with a visit to play the St. Louis Blues (6-6-0 this season) at 8 p.m. on Tuesday.
Benjamin's Three Stars:
- Mark Scheifele, WPG (1 goal, 1 assist)
- Nikita Kucherov, TBL (1 goal, 1 assist)
- Vladislav Namestnikov, WPG (1 goal, 1 assist)
