Third period push not enough, Jets fall 6-4 in Tampa

With the Winnipeg Jets looking to snap a six-game losing streak, head coach Scott Arniel made a significant change to his forward lines Thursday night in Tampa Bay, separating longtime linemates Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor. Scheifele centred Cole Perfetti and Gabriel Vilardi, while Connor moved to the left wing alongside rookie Viggo Björck and Dawson Mercer as Arniel looked for a spark from an offence that has struggled to produce.

The Jets did produce some offence scoring four times, but a rough second period was too much to overcome in a 6-4 loss to the Lightning. Neal Pionk (2G), Scheifele (3A), Connor (1G, 1A), Perfetti (2A) and Dylan Samberg (1G, 1A) all had multi-point nights for the Jets who are now winless in seven (0-5-2).

The Lightning wasted little time getting on the board. Nikita Kucherov carried the puck into the slot before it bounced off his stick and landed perfectly on the blade of Brayden Point, who quickly fired it past Skinner to give Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead on just its second shot of the game.

Winnipeg pulled even before the intermission, capitalizing on a strong shift in the offensive zone. After the Jets briefly lost possession, Mark Scheifele recovered the puck and fed Cole Perfetti, who found Neal Pionk at the point. Playing in his 600th career game, Pionk fired home his second goal of the season at 17:45 to tie the game 1-1.

Tampa Bay regained the lead at 9:43 of the second period, converting on a 2-on-1 rush into the Jets zone. Dominic James slid a pass across to Conor Geekie, who tapped it past Skinner for his third goal of the season and a 2-1 Lightning advantage.

The wheels came off for Winnipeg in a disastrous stretch, as Tampa Bay scored three times in just 3:07 to turn a 2-1 game into a 5-1 rout. Anthony Cirelli opened the barrage with a power-play goal before John Carlson and Brandon Hagel followed, leaving the Jets facing a four-goal deficit heading into the intermission.

"We can't have those brain cramps," Arniel said when asked about the second period.

"We can't have those situations where you miss an assignment and we're talking about the stress that happens in a game. When you start to put that stress on yourself and it's more of those mental mistakes. That's when the good teams are going to capitilize."

Nico Daws made his Jets debut to start the third period, replacing Skinner, who finished the night allowing five goals on 21 shots.

The Jets weren't ready to fold, though, and started to make things interesting just past the midway point of the period. Dylan Samberg ended a 35-game goal drought, getting on the board for the first time this season after making a terrific one-handed tip on a beautiful pass from Cole Perfetti past Andrei Vasilevskiy.

Just 1:50 later, Winnipeg struck again to pull within two. On another odd-man rush, Dawson Mercer sent a cross-ice pass to Neal Pionk, who buried his second goal of the night to make it 5-3 and suddenly give the Jets some life. Mercer recording his first point as a Jet since being traded to Winnipeg six days ago.

And the Jets weren't finished. With just under three minutes remaining, Mark Scheifele spotted Kyle Connor across the ice, and Connor unleashed a one-timer past Vasilevskiy for his 10th goal of the season. Suddenly, a game that looked all but over had become a one-goal contest at 5-4, with Winnipeg putting the pressure on Tampa Bay.

Connor said there were conversations during the second intermission, but nothing out of the ordinary, as the Jets looked to find a way out of their recent struggles.

“We are well aware that we haven't played our best lately,” said Connor when asked what was discussed between periods.

“We got to get out of this funk, and maybe that third was kind of a recipe for success here. Hopefully we can kind of replicate that going forward.”

The message was simple: find a way to get out of the funk. And while the comeback ultimately fell short, the Jets showed some signs of life in a third period that could give them something to build on.

Unfortunately, the Lightning ended the comeback when Pontus Holmberg found the empty net at 18:29, the Tampa forward with a career high four points (1G, 3A).

After the game, Connor talked about not starting the game alongside his longtime linemate.

"We haven't really been scoring much to be honest, and yeah, we haven't done in a while," said Connor. 

"But I think just try to maybe get some other guys going and spread it out, and just be a little bit more of a deeper team."

The Jets don't have a lot of time to prepare for their next opponent, as they are in Sunrise on Friday for a rematch with the Panthers.