Stamkos scores 400th goal for Lightning in loss to Jets

TAMPA -- Steven Stamkos scored his 400th NHL goal, but the Tampa Bay Lightning's three-game winning streak ended in a 4-3 loss against the Winnipeg Jets at Amalie Arena on Saturday.

Stamkos, the No. 1 pick in the 2008 NHL Draft by the Lightning, made it 3-2 at 17:44 of the third period with a one-timer from Victor Hedman.
Hedman and Anthony Cirelli also scored for Tampa Bay (9-6-2), and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 23 saves.
WATCH: [All Jets vs. Lightning highlights]
Stamkos is the ninth active player to score 400 goals and 98th in NHL history.
"Anytime you hit a milestone, it's always good to do it in your home barn in front of your fans," Stamkos said. "I'm sure this will be one of those moments you reflect on after the fact. But in saying that, it's still pretty surreal.
"You never envision scoring that many goals in the NHL, and hopefully a lot more still to come. [It] would have been nicer in a win, but [it's] nice to get it out of the way too and just focus on the next game."

Connor Hellebuyck made 31 saves for Winnipeg (12-8-1), which scored two goals in 21 seconds during the second period and is 6-1-1 in its past eight games. Blake Wheeler and Josh Morrissey each had two assists.
"He's been making tons of great saves," Wheeler said of Hellebuyck. "He's given us an opportunity, especially early on [in the season] we weren't playing very well in front of him. Our game has come a long way since then."
Jack Roslovic gave the Jets a 2-1 lead at 7:18 of the second period when he jammed in a centering pass from Andrew Copp.
Lightning coach Jon Cooper challenged that Nikolaj Ehlers used a high stick 18 seconds prior to the goal and that play should have been stopped, but the call stood and Tampa Bay was assessed a two-minute penalty for delay of game.
"We wouldn't challenge that unless we were 100 percent that it was a high stick," Cooper said. "Apparently you have to be 110 percent. We don't challenge just by chance. Everybody thought that was a high stick. They didn't see it that way. No big deal."
Ehlers then made it 3-1 with a power-play goal off a wrist shot at 7:39.
"That's a tough one to swallow; you lose the challenge and then you go on the PK and give one up right away," Hedman said. "That's a big momentum swing in the game. But I thought it was a good match, two good teams and we just came up short."
The Jets were 1-for-4 on the power play; the Lightning were 0-for-2.

Mathieu Perreault gave Winnipeg a 1-0 lead at 1:59 of the first period when he redirected Morrissey's shot.
Hedman tied it 1-1 at 19:11 of the first.
Kyle Connor made it 4-2 with an empty net goal at 18:32 of the third period.
Hellebuyck made his biggest save of the game against Ondrej Palat's one-timer from the hash marks with less than a minute remaining.
"I see a guy in front alone and he's going to rip it, so a hope and a prayer at that point," Hellebuyck said.
Cirelli scored with 22 seconds left for the 4-3 final.
"That might be my save of the year and then I go and get scored on after, so, shoot," Hellebuyck said. "I was just having fun out there. I thought the guys were playing great, they were aggressive [on the penalty kill] and didn't give them a lot. And when they did get it, I was there for it."

They said it

"It's only two, which is really important that we don't get into a big number against this team, but it might have been the strongest tactical part of our game. We had some good entry kills, some real good aggressiveness, and shot blocks by [Luca] Sbisa, he's just kind of brought that to our group and a couple of big saves." -- Jets coach Paul Maurice on the penalty kill
"Four hundred goals … that is a lot of goals. Players are lucky to play 400 games in this league, and he's got 400 goals. That means you've been doing it and been doing it for a long time." -- Lightning coach Jon Cooper on center Steven Stamkos

Need to know

Winnipeg is 9-1-1 in one-goal games this season. … Ehlers has seven goals in nine games against the Lightning. … With 763 games played, Stamkos is the second-fastest among active NHL players to score 400 goals; Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin needed 634 games. … Hedman has seven points (two goals, five assists) during a four-game point streak. … Tampa Bay has allowed the first goal in 11 of 17 games.

What's next

Jets: At the Nashville Predators on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; FS-TN, TSN3, NHL.TV)
Lightning: At the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, FS-MW, NHL.TV)