Tampa Bay Lightning Fall To Winnipeg Jets 4-2

Diandra Loux

Jan 3, 2024, 18:48

Diandra Loux

Jan 3, 2024, 18:48

The Lightning gave a solid effort, but small errors ultimately tilted the game in the third period.

Winnipeg entered Tuesday night's game as one of the top teams in the league, allowing just three-or-fewer goals in 25 consecutive games. The Lightning knew they had a large task at hand and they came out strong in the first period.

Steven Stamkos scored the first goal of the game on the power play. He’s now at 202 career power-play goals, tying him with Steve Yzerman for the 18th-most in NHL history. Only five other players have scored more power-play goals with a single franchise.

Taking the lead early meant the Bolts didn’t have to chase the game, which gave them the opportunity to play the style of game they wanted. The Jets started to pack the pressure on, but the Lightning continued playing as one cohesive unit and were able to keep the puck to the outside. With 18 seconds left, they took a delay of game penalty for the puck landing on their bench. They went into the first intermission up 1-0.

To start the second period, the Lightning had to kill off the penalty. Less than five minutes later, the Jets gained momentum again and started to grind it out in the Lightning’s zone. Tanner Jeannot blocked a shot from Cole Perfetti but Alex Lafallo jumped on the loose puck and scored.

While Tampa Bay held their own, Winnipeg started to build their game up. A few costly mistakes started to add up for the Lightning. They successfully killed off two penalties, but doing so ultimately took time off of the clock and most importantly took the momentum out of their hands. They fell to the Jets 4-2 for the first game of the road trip.

“I think today we played good enough to win. For us, we trust in what we have and we’ve just got to keep believing. That’s the bottom line,” Victor Hedman said after the game.

“Winnipeg has a great record for a reason and a solid team that’s well coached with great goaltending. But I think we stood up pretty good and I felt like we could’ve got a point out of this one.”

The Lightning are back at it Thursday night against their old buddy Pat Maroon and the Minnesota Wild.