The Winnipeg Jets were bound to lose again eventually.
More than two weeks after their first loss of the season, the Jets were clearly the second-best team on the ice in a 4-1 loss in Tampa Bay Thursday night, dropping their record to 15-2 and snapping their seven-game win streak.
The Jets surrendered three goals in the first 25 minutes and couldn’t mount a comeback as they suffered their first road loss of the season, ending their seven-game road win streak.
The Lightning ended a four-game winless spell.
“They came out hard,” said head coach Scott Arniel. “We knew they were gonna. They had seven days off and it hadn’t gone well for them. They were gonna come after us and they did.
“They were on a mission. They weren’t gonna let us get into our game and that’s a good lesson for us. We know how we have to continue to play. We know what helps us have success. and just get back to it here in another night from now.”
After outscoring their opponents 9-1 at 5-on-5 over their last seven games, the Jets top line was kept off the scoresheet as Adam Lowry notched their only marker. Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor and Gabriel Vilardi were all a minus-2 for the night.
Scheifele and Vilardi both had eight-game point streaks come to an end.
The Jets struggled with their zone entries and puck management as they committed 23 giveaways in the loss.
“Early on we just tried to make a few too many plays,” said Lowry. “Just didn’t get to our game. I think through the neutral zone where sometimes they got good gaps. You got to put it in behind, try to make that extra play and they transition and were dangerous off the rush, so, I think there was parts of our game that we liked.”
Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy set the NHL record for fastest to 300 career wins, a mark Jacques Plante held for over 61 years.
It was the first time the Jets gave up more than three goals on the road this season and it was only the second time they were held to just one goal.
“They did defend real hard obviously when you only score one goal and the way we’ve been scoring,” said forward Mason Appleton. “They defended real well. When you don’t come through the zone clean because the neutral zone, how they played us, it will create a little more challenge to get that zone time.”
The Lightning, who were playing their first game in a week, were the stronger team right out of the gate and opened the scoring after a nearly six-minute run of play without a whistle.
After Winnipeg turned the puck over at the Tampa Bay blueline, Nick Paul carried the puck up the ice and into the Jets’ end, patiently waiting for a streaking Jake Guentzel to emerge into the slot. He received a pass from Paul, then wired it past Eric Comrie to make it 1-0 at the 7:24 mark.
The Jets started to push back a bit as the period rolled along, earning a power play with just under a minute left in the frame but they didn’t manage to get a shot on goal.
Tampa Bay carried a 10-7 edge in shots on goal into the second and quickly built on their lead.
After cycling the puck around the Winnipeg end, the Lightning got the puck to Darren Raddysh at the right point, who spotted Brandon Hagel cutting to the net. He got a perfect pass and got in close on Comrie before roofing it to make it 2-0 just 3:07 into the second.
Moments later, Dylan DeMelo took a hooking penalty and the Lightning, who had yet to score a power play goal on home ice this season, wasted little time making it 3-0 as Anthony Cirelli tipped a Victor Hedman point shot past Comrie at the 4:07 mark.
Less than three minutes later, the Jets got on the board thanks to a bit of a fluky goal. Colin Miller’s shot from the point glanced off the skate of Lowry after he got upended near the crease and rose over the arm of Vasilevskiy to make it 3-1.
Winnipeg earned their second power play of the night less than two minutes later but for the second time in the game, the league’s top power play unit failed to register a shot on goal.
Shots on goal favoured Tampa Bay in the second period 13-6 and for the first 40 minutes the Lightning had a 23-13 edge.
Winnipeg pushed in the third to try and get back into the game but couldn’t get another one past Vasilevskiy, failing on a pair of power plays in the final frame.
Comrie was pulled for an extra attacker with just over two minutes to go and it didn’t lead to much before Guentzel potted his second of the night into the empty net with 21 seconds to go.
Comrie turned aside 25 shots in his first loss of the season, while Vasilevskiy made 23 stops.
Winnipeg will look to start a new win streak Saturday when they visit the Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers. Pregame coverage on 680 CJOB starts at 4 p.m. with game action beginning just after 6 p.m.