Lightning score five straight to top Jets, keep pace in Atlantic race

TAMPA --The Tampa Bay Lightning scored five straight goals to rally for a 7-4 win against the Winnipeg Jets at Amalie Arena on Saturday.

Nikita Kucherov had two goals and two assists, and Victor Hedman had four assists for the Lightning (46-21-8), who reached 100 points for the fifth time in nine seasons. Steven Stamkos and Nicholas Paul each had a goal and an assist, and Brian Elliott made 14 saves.
Tampa Bay remained three points ahead of the Boston Bruins for third place in the Atlantic Division and four points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs.
"Hopefully we can just build off that third [period]," said Stamkos, the Lightning captain. "That was kind of the hockey we're accustomed to playing. Playing with confidence and poise and just making the right reads and defending hard."

Kyle Connor had a goal and an assist for the Jets (35-30-11), who have lost six of eight including 6-1 at the Florida Panthers on Friday. Connor Hellebuyck allowed seven goals on 32 shots before being replaced by Eric Comrie (five saves).
Winnipeg fell to 10 points behind the Dallas Stars for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
"I don't know whether it's tired, lack of motivation from some guys in the room. We're definitely a frustrated group here," Connor said. "Yeah there is a slight chance, but it's a chance to make the playoffs. ... Two critical games and we put up that kind of effort."
Paul pulled Tampa Bay within 4-3 at 13:56 of the second period, and Kucherov tied it 4-4 at 18:03, finishing a give-and-go with Hedman.
"When [Kucherov] has the puck and he's taking those first three steps, creating space and sucking guys in, that's when he's at his best," Stamkos said. "… When the puck is on his stick it's a very good thing for us."
Stamkos put the Lightning ahead 5-4 at 3:00 of the third period after taking a pass from Ondrej Palat in the slot.
Kucherov made it 6-4 at 6:50 on a one-timer off a Hedman pass, and Mikhail Sergachev pushed the lead to 7-4 at 11:55.
"We had a good third period," Kucherov said. "Just the way we played as a team. If you look at our first shift in the third it was like a different team playing. Hopefully we can build off it."

Hellebuyck was pulled for the second consecutive game after Sergachev's goal.
Paul Stastny gave Winnipeg a 1-0 lead 56 seconds into the first period when he redirected a shot from Nikolaj Ehlers.
"I thought we started better and we had a couple of good looks to extend our lead, but we didn't," Stastny said. "And then we left our goalie out to dry like we have done all year. Some games 'Bucky' makes big saves or they don't score, but over the course of the year if you keep giving up Grade A chances like that, you're going to get burned."
Alex Killorn tied it 1-1 at 6:05 with a power-play goal, deflecting a Stamkos shot.
Connor put the Jets in front 2-1 at 13:46 with a backhand on a breakaway.
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare tied it 2-2 at 18:21.
"I think we needed something to pull us in the fight," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "The first shift kind of said it all -- we were a little passive and we weren't finishing. I give Winnipeg a ton of credit, they went back to back and they played hard."

Josh Morrissey gave the Jets a 3-2 lead at 7:36 of the second period when he poked in a rebound, and Blake Wheeler extended the lead to 4-2 at 9:34 with a power-play goal.
Winnipeg was on the power play after Tampa Bay was given a delay of game penalty for unsuccessfully challenging for offside on the Morrissey goal.
"I thought we were in control of the hockey game," Jets coach Dave Lowry said. "We were up 4-2 and then they had a couple of shifts back to back where they were able to score that third goal and then equalize the game before the period was over. We did a lot of good things for two periods."
NOTES: Hedman, who has 53 assists, reached the 50-assist mark for the second time in his 13 NHL seasons. He had 56 assists in 2016-2017. ... Kucherov has 17 points (seven goals, 10 assists) in the past 11 games. ... Stamkos has 18 points (six goals, 12 assists) in the past 13 games. … Ehlers had an assist to extend his point streak to an NHL career-high nine games (14 points; six goals, eight assists).