Scheifele has goal, three assists for Jets in win against Lightning

WINNIPEG --Mark Scheifele had a goal and three assists for the Winnipeg Jets in a 7-4 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Canada Life Centre on Tuesday.

"We have guys in the right spots," Scheifele said. "We've found some consistency being in the right spots. Our D were moving really well tonight. That opens up seams, that opens up other guys and gets them on the run, so I liked that part of it. I think we have to see more of that."
Paul Stastny scored two goals, and Connor Hellebuyck made 20 saves for the Jets (25-22-10), who had lost six of eight (2-4-2). Blake Wheeler had two assists, his 500th and 501st in 12 seasons with the Atlanta Thrashers/Winnipeg Jets.
"We played our game for 60 minutes tonight," Winnipeg coach Dave Lowry said. "We created the way that we wanted to. We made a couple cross-ice passes that fueled their game. But we talked about how we'd have to play the rest of the way home to give ourselves a chance. We were going to have to play direct, we were going to have to play in straight lines, and we did that. We stayed with it."

Andrei Vasilevskiy made 26 saves for the Lightning (37-13-6), who had won seven of their past eight games.
"If you look at pretty much every one of their goals tonight it was from two, three feet right in front of [Vasilevskiy]," Tampa Bay defenseman Ryan McDonagh said. "It was not good enough, not strong enough in front of him there, and that's where the goals are scored. We certainly didn't play hard enough defensively around the blue paint, and we paid the price tonight."
Pierre-Luc Dubois gave the Jets a 4-3 lead at 7:25 of the third period with a power-play goal before Kyle Connor extended it to 5-3 at 9:16 on a shorthanded breakaway, alternating from backhand to forehand before scoring on a backhand.
"That's a heck of a move on a very good goalie," Lowry said of Connor's 34th goal of the season. "I really believe it is just quickness and being comfortable in our reads. Real good reads. And there are some guys that have some speed that can jump on a puck and take off."

Josh Morrissey made it 6-3 at 14:48, scoring into an empty net. It was his seventh goal of the season, tying his NHL career high from 2017-18.
Ross Colton cut it to 6-4 at 17:15 before Stastny scored into an empty net at 17:29 for the 7-4 final.
"No question, we're in a funk right now," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "Everybody has just got to dig a little deeper and get yourself out of it. Are the starts concerning? There's no question, but hitting the panic button with this team? Not a chance. You have some tough nights. We just happen to have a few in a row, and it really hasn't shown up in the win-loss column, but we haven't played our best."
Scheifele gave the Jets a 1-0 lead at 4:19 of the first period, scoring with a backhand after Logan Stanley hit the post on a shot from the point.
Adam Lowry made it 2-0 at 6:11, scoring on his own rebound following a tip in front.
"How many times now in a row have we started behind in a game having to claw ourselves back," McDonagh said. "It's not ideal and it's not winning hockey. We need to individually look at ourselves, change it up and do something different to get ourselves mentally engaged, playing with some pace and playing with some determination to start a game, at least not give ourselves a hole to climb out of."

McDonagh cut it to 2-1 at 11:50 with a wrist shot on a 2-on-1 rush but Stastny extended the lead to 3-1 at 14:36.
"We're hurting ourselves," Tampa Bay forward Pat Maroon said. "We're turning pucks over, we're chasing in the D-zone, we're not talking in the D-zone, we're not communicating, we're not breaking the puck out clean."
The Lightning tied it with two goals in a span of 1:29. Alex Killorn made it 3-2 at 16:01 and Victor Hedman tied it 3-3 at 17:30 on a wrist shot from the slot.
NOTES:Tampa Bay defenseman Zach Bogosian was minus-1 with one hit in 13:20 of ice time after missing 15 games with a lower-body injury. … Hedman has scored six points (three goals, three assists) in the past three games. … Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak played his 200th NHL game. … Lowry's goal is his eighth of the season and fourth in six games. … Stastny has five goals in his past four games. … Wheeler has scored 737 points (236 goals, 501 assists) with the Thrashers/Jets and 847 points (286 goals, 561 assists) in 14 NHL seasons.