The Winnipeg Jets had their seven game winning streak snapped Thursday as they were beat 3-1 by the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The cards were stacked against Winnipeg entering the game as Tampa Bay had six days of rest and were on a four-game losing streak that made them additionally motivated to snap it.
The Bolts started the game off with all the momentum as the Jets couldn’t land a shot on net for the first six minutes of the game.
The pressure was mounting until the Jets looked to finally generate a solid chance with a four-on-two breakout. The puck is quickly turned over for a rush the other way for Tampa Bay as Nick Paul drops a pass for Jake Guentzel, who rips a quick shot past Comrie for the 1-0 lead.
The Jets attempted to regain ground as they caught up in the shot department but trailed heading into the second. The next 20 were more of the same as the Bolts began the second with most of the momentum. It mounted in a quick passing play that caught Brandon Hagel striding into the Jets end where he lets off a quick wrister past Eric Comrie for Tampa Bay’s second goal of the game.
Things turned from bad to ugly when Dylan DeMelo takes a bad hooking penalty and put the already surging Bolts on the power play. They take advantage with Victor Hedman firing a blue line wrist shot past a screened Comrie, extending the lead to 3-0 just five minutes into the period.
The Jets regained some life thanks to their captain Adam Lowry, who gets a lucky break as a Colin Miller shot from the point deflects off his body and cuts the deficit to two goals. A couple scoring chances stopped by Vasilevskiy held the score to 3-1 heading into the final 20 minutes.
The third period saw the Jets have plenty of chances as they outshot the Lightning 12 to 5 but couldn’t get the puck past Vasilevskiy, who had one of his best career games against the Jets with 23 saves on 24 shots and one goal allowed.
His history against Winnipeg wasn’t the greatest as he allowed three or more goals in nine of his last 12 career starts against Winnipeg. The win on Thursday was his 300th career win making him the fastest NHL goalie to reach that mark.
The Bolts closed out the game with an empty net goal by Jake Guentzel, sealing the 4-1 win. The Jets saw production from their third line that had scored in three games when Lowry scored Winnipeg’s lone goal.
The Jets will look to rebound Saturday when they continue their road trip when taking on the Florida Panthers.
