Nikolaj Ehlers helps Jets hold off Lightning

TAMPA-- Nikolaj Ehlers scored two goals, including a penalty shot, to help the Winnipeg Jets defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-4 at Amalie Arena on Tuesday.
Mark Scheifele, Jacob Trouba, Dustin Byfuglien and Patrik Laine scored for Winnipeg (18-19-3), and Connor Hellebuyck made 32 saves.
Nikita Kucherov scored twice, and Matthew Peca, Ondrej Palat scored for the Lightning (19-16-4), who lost in regulation at home for the first time since Dec. 10.

Ehlers was awarded a penalty shot at 4:30 of the second period when Kucherov was called for hooking him. Ehlers beat Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy with a wrist shot on the glove side to give the Jets a 2-1 lead.
"I've had my difficulties on breakaways," Ehlers said. "Tuesday] I thought I'm just going to go and try and do a quick move and just shoot it. And it worked out."
**WATCH: [All Jets vs. Lightning highlights**
Trouba made it 3-1 at 5:19 of the second when he scored on a shot from the high post that beat Vasilevskiy on the stick side. Byfuglien pushed the lead to 4-1 at 14:44 with a flip from the right point that got by Vasilevskiy's glove.
The Lightning made it 4-2 at 3:26 of the third period when Palat converted a 2-on-1 break with a chip past Hellebuyck off a pass from Tyler Johnson.
"We thought we were a little bit unfortunate to come out of [the first] period 1-0, and our second (period) wasn't anywhere good enough," Lightning forward Ryan Callahan said. "In the first six minutes, we find ourselves down I believe it was 4-1 at that point … right around there."
Ehlers made it 5-2 at 9:28 of the third on a wrist shot from the slot that beat Vasilevskiy high.
Kucherov scored two power-play goals in the third. The first came off a rebound of a slap shot that hit the crossbar at 12:22 to make it 5-3, and the second came at 17:29 when he beat Hellebuyck with a wrist shot to the five-hole to make it 5-4.

Laine scored into an empty net with 1:23 left.
Scheifele gave the Jets a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 7:25 of the first period. Peca tied it 1-1 with his first NHL goal at 3:43 of the second period. He was playing his fourth game.
"Anytime your team puts up six (goals) it's a pretty good thing," Hellebuyck said. "We just stayed on the puck and played the right way. Anytime you are doing the right things, you get those goals."

Goal of the game

Ehlers cut to the middle of the ice, leaving Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman behind and creating an open look for his second goal.
"It's something I did a lot in juniors," Ehlers said. "[Scheifele] going to the net there opened up that space for me."

Save of the game

Vasilevskiy used his blocker and stick to turn away Laine on a backhand at 1:11 of the second period.

Unsung performance of the game

Jets coach Paul Maurice raved about Scheifele's performance beyond his stat line (goal, assist, plus-2).
"I thought [Scheifele] played one of his best games of the season," Maurice said. "He got the first goal, but it's not goals; he drove the net and he battled down low."

Highlight of the game

Ehlers took advantage of his penalty-shot opportunity and beat Vasilevskiy with a quick release to the short side that started a three-goal run for the Jets.
"You [have to] score goals if you're a goal-scorer," Maurice said. "But that breakaway goal, you rarely see someone come in on that angle and stay short side."

They said it

"I liked the very first shift after they scored [in the second period]. That was really strong. I can't remember in recent history, not just this season, where we had that many [grade] A chances over the course of a game." -- Jets coach Paul Maurice
"It was men against boys after the first period. It wasn't that penalty shot. We just deflated after our goal, which is a little bit surprising. I know we've been down a lot at home early, we were [Tuesday], we didn't deserve to be. Clearly Coach Maurice's speech after the first period was a lot better than mine." -- Lightning coach Jon Cooper

Need to know

Vasilevskiy allowed five goals on 33 shots. … The Jets' goal differential was minus-27 in the second period. …Jets center Bryan Little won 15 of 23 faceoffs (65 percent). … Lightning forward Jonathan Drouin was minus-3 for the first time in the NHL.

What's next

Jets: At the Florida Panthers on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET; SN1, SNW, SNP, FS-F, NHL.TV)
Lightning: Host the Nashville Predators on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; SUN, FS-TN, NHL.TV)