The Tampa Bay Lightning scored four goals in the second period and held off a late Winnipeg Jets rally to win 6-4 on Thursday at Benchmark International Arena. Pontus Holmberg finished with a goal and three assists for Tampa Bay, which improved to 8-3-1.
The Lightning broke the game open with a four-goal middle frame from Conor Geekie, Anthony Cirelli, John Carlson and Brandon Hagel, turning a 1-1 tie into a commanding 5-1 lead. Winnipeg answered with three third-period goals from Dylan Samberg, Neal Pionk and Kyle Connor, pulling within one before Holmberg sealed it with an empty-contested snap shot at 18:29. Mark Scheifele led the Jets with three assists as Winnipeg fell to 4-6-3.
Key Moments: How Tampa Bay Pulled Away
Brayden Point opened the scoring 2:20 into the game off assists from Nikita Kucherov and Jake Guentzel. Pionk tied it 1-1 late in the first period on a slap shot, his second goal of the year.
Tampa Bay then took over. Geekie restored the lead at 9:43 of the second, Cirelli deflected one home at 15:56, Carlson scored on a snap shot at 18:07 and Hagel added another just 56 seconds later to make it 5-1 heading into the third. Tampa Bay finished with 31 shots and converted on one of three power-play chances.
Winnipeg made it interesting in the third. Samberg deflected one in at 7:00, Pionk scored his second of the night at 8:50 and Connor cut the deficit to one at 17:12, capping a three-goal period built on faceoff dominance, as the Jets won 61.4% of draws compared to Tampa Bay’s 38.6%. Holmberg’s goal and three assists gave him four points, the top total for either team.
Hagel and Cirelli each had a goal and two assists for Tampa Bay. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 17 saves on 21 shots for the win.
For Winnipeg, Pionk scored twice and Scheifele piled up three assists.
Stuart Skinner stopped 16 of 21 shots in 40 minutes.s goal at 18:29 restored a two-goal cushion and closed out the scoring.
Top Performers
Hagel and Cirelli each had a goal and two assists for Tampa Bay, while Jake Guentzel added an assist and six shots on goal.
Jets goaltender Stuart Skinner stopped 16 of 21 shots in 40 minutes before Nico Daws finished the game, stopping all nine shots he faced.
What It Means
Tampa Bay sits second in the Atlantic Division with 17 points, one point behind Boston, after improving to 8-3-1. Winnipeg dropped to 4-6-3 and 11 points, near the bottom of the Central Division. The win also gives Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead in the season series between the two clubs.
What’s Next
The Jets’ next game and the Lightning’s next matchup have not yet been announced.
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