Pontus Holmberg and a four-goal second period led the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 6-4 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday at Benchmark International Arena.
The game started as a 1-1 tie before goals from Conor Geekie, Anthony Cirelli, John Carlson and Holmberg tilted the score for the home team in the middle frame.
The Jets got three goals back in the third period before Holmberg closed the scoring on an empty-net goal.
Pontus Holmberg’s four points led the Lightning, while Cirelli and Brandon Hagel each had three.
Tampa Bay improves to 8-3-1 this season and now heads to Nashville for a 2 p.m. game Saturday against the Nashville Predators.
Scoring summary
First period
TBL 1, WPG 0
2:20 Brayden Point (3) - Nikita Kucherov, Jake Guentzel
Tampa Bay took an early lead on Brayden Point’s top-shelf shot in the slot moments after a pass from Nikita Kucherov.
TBL 1, WPG 1
17:45 Neal Pionk (2) - Cole Perfetti, Mark Scheifele
Winnipeg evened the score with a shot from the blue line.
Shots on goal: TBL 7, WPG 6
Second period
TBL 2, WPG 1
9:43 Conor Geekie (3) - Dominic James, Jeffrey Viel
Tampa Bay regained its lead on a rush chance for Conor Geekie and Dominic James.
TBL 3, WPG 1
15:56 Anthony Cirelli (4) - Pontus Holmberg, Gage Goncalves - PP
The Lightning power play kept its strong stretch going when Anthony Cirelli tapped home a Holmberg feed at the net.
TBL 4, WPG 1
18:07 John Carlson (4) - Holmberg, Brandon Hagel
A Carlson one-timer extended the Lightning lead following a big hit by Charle-Edouard D’Astous.
TBL 5, WPG 1
19:03 Hagel (8) - Cirelli, Holmberg
Holmberg forced a turnover in the offensive zone to create a chance for Cirelli and Hagel, and the latter buried his chance near the net.
Shots on goal: TBL 14, WPG 7
Third period
TBL 5, WPG 2
7:00 Dylan Samberg (1) - Perfetti, Scheifele
The Jets got a deflection goal early in the third period from defenseman Dylan Samberg.
TBL 5, WPG 3
8:50 Pionk (3) - Dawson Mercer, Kyle Connor
Pionk’s second goal of the game cut the visitors’ deficit to two.
TBL 5, WPG 4
17:12 Connor (10) - Scheifele, Samberg
Winnipeg's goal at 6-on-5 made it a one-goal game late.
TBL 6, WPG 4
18:29 Holmberg (4) - Cirelli, Hagel - EN
The night ended with an empty-net score for Holmberg, his fourth point of the game.
Total shots: TBL 31, WPG 21
