Jets score 7, stay hot with victory against Lightning

WINNIPEG -- Mark Scheifele, Nikolaj Ehlers, Vladislav Namestnikov and Cole Perfetti each had a goal and an assist for the Winnipeg Jets in a 7-4 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Canada Life Centre on Sunday.

“There was no panic,” Ehlers said of the Jets, who came from behind to win for the seventh time this season, which leads the NHL. “Obviously not the way you want to start that game in the first period… But there was no panic in our group. And that shows that we have learned a lot over the last couple of years.”

Dylan Samberg scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period, and Alex Iafallo also scored for Winnipeg (11-1-0), which has won three straight following its only loss of the season Oct. 28 against the Toronto Maple Leafs, 6-4. Josh Morrissey had two assists, and Connor Hellebuyck made 26 saves.

“We know that if we play the right way and with our structure, we're going to get our chances,” Ehlers said. “I still think there's a lot of areas we need to look at and clean up from the game tonight. But overall, I think we played a good enough game to win. And we didn't panic. We felt good; we kept on going. We kept on playing, shooting the puck, and it paid off. So that's something that we got to keep going."

Nikita Kucherov had a goal and an assist, and Brayden Point and Brandon Hagel also scored for the Lightning (7-5-0), who had won three of four (3-1-0). Jonas Johansson made 27 saves.

“It was a tight game, you know, they scored and we scored,” Tampa Bay defenseman Erik Cernak said. “I feel like we had a really good start, we scored a couple of goals, everything was going our way and then unfortunately we did a couple of mistakes, and they capitalized on that on that. So, it's tough to see, and we just have to battle through and just have to be better.”

Point left the game at 11:13 of the first period and did not return. Lightning coach Jon Cooper had no update.

“I mean he's just a high elite player so whenever you lose a player like that the guys got to step up,” Tampa Bay forward Jake Guentzel said. “You know injuries are part of the game, so (we’ve) just got to move on, and next man up.”

Samberg gave the Jets a 5-4 lead at 7:38 of the third period on a point shot.

“[Samberg] knows that he has a good shot,” Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said. “He knows that he has to find a way to get it to the netfront. A great screen on that one, I think that was [Scheifele] in front. But we talk to our D all of the time -- go out and create that. When we're winning races, winning battles to get to the netfront, we have to make sure that we send that puck there. And that was a great opportunity for him to do that."

Ehlers pushed it to 6-4 with an empty-net goal at 17:15, and Perfetti also scored into an empty net at 19:23 for the 7-4 final.

“I was back and forth and unfortunately they got the one on us,” Cernak said. “Then we were just chasing, you know, empty net. It’s like I said, we just have to be better. We have to look into it and get better in those small details.”

Hagel gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead at 6:49 of the first period, finding a loose puck that slipped out of a net-front scramble. Arniel challenged for goaltender interference on the play, but the goal was upheld following video review. The Jets were then penalized for delay of game for the failed coach’s challenge.

“I just felt like [Hellebuyck] never had the chance to make the next save,” Arniel said. "I understand the first part, but the next part was that he didn’t have a chance to make the next save. That was the beef for us.”

Point scored on the ensuing power play to make it 2-0 at 8:02 with a one-timer from the slot.

Namestnikov cut it to 2-1 at 12:23, redirecting Morrissey’s cross-slot pass under Johansson.

“They just have a solid team, they’re just built the right way,” Cooper said of the Jets. “They’ve got some big studs that can put the puck in the net. They’ve got checkers and they’ve bought into a system, and when they break down the goalie makes saves. You know, that’s a pretty good formula to have.”

Winnipeg scored twice in a span of 1:47 in the second period. Logan Stanley’s wrist shot tied it 2-2 at 5:49, and Scheifele finished a give-and-go with Gabriel Vilardi on a 2-on-1 rush to give the Jets a 3-2 lead at 7:36.

Mitchell Chaffee tied it 3-3 at 8:39 on the rush, scoring with a shot from above the face-off dot.

“They get a lead, we tie it back up, down a couple, tie it back up,” Arniel said. “It was just kind of a wild one that we stayed in. We always harp on staying with games, keep playing the way we know how to play and we'll get rewarded, and it was great to see some of those guys get goals who hadn't scored in a while."

Iafallo put the Jets back ahead 4-3 at 4:03 of the third after Nino Niederreiter’s pass from behind the net found him in the slot for a one-timer.

Kucherov then tied it 4-4 at 6:51, poke checking Namestnikov as he carried the puck in front of an unattended Winnipeg net before Helleybuck could regain position following a clearing attempt.

“It’s nice to have everybody chip in,” Stanley said. “It takes 25 guys to win throughout the course of the season. Contributions from everyone is huge, and we’re just going to keep rolling.”

NOTES: Ehlers has 474 points in the NHL (209 goals, 265 assists) in 617 games, moving him past Frans Nielsen’s record of 473 points (167 goals, 306 assists) in 925 games for the most points among Danish-born players in NHL history. … Jets forward Kyle Connor had an assist, giving him 19 points (nine goals, 10 assists) to extend his franchise-record season-opening point streak to 12 games. He became the second U.S.-born player in NHL history with a run of that length, following Kevin Stevens (13 games in 1992-93). Connor became the second Jets/Atlanta Thrashers player with a 12-game point streak at any time in a season, joining Patrik Laine (15 games from Feb. 16 to March 18, 2018). … Victor Hedman factored on Point’s goal and recorded his 582nd career assist. He tied former teammate Steven Stamkos for second place on the Lightning’s all-time list behind Martin St. Louis (588).