Hellebuyck makes 33 saves, Jets top Lightning

TAMPA -- Connor Hellebuyck made 33 saves for the Winnipeg Jets in a 3-2 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena on Sunday.

Nino Niederreiter, Morgan Barron and Nate Schmidt scored for the Jets (38-26-3), who were playing the second of a back to back following a 5-4 overtime victory against the Florida Panthers on Saturday.
"It's huge. … Two tough barns, especially the last couple of years with how good Florida is," Winnipeg associate coach Scott Arniel said. "It's a real desperate time for us. We have to keep pace with everyone in our Division (Central) and Conference (Western). We knew it was going to be a tough (three-game) trip, and it's off to a great start."
The Jets moved one point ahead of the Colorado Avalanche, who have three games in hand, for third place in the Central.
"We know all the points matter right now, and our schedule doesn't get easier," Barron said. "And the next two games are against really good teams with [the Carolina Hurricanes] and Boston (Bruins) coming up."
Anthony Cirelli had a goal and an assist, Brandon Hagel had two assists, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 19 saves for the Lightning (39-22-6), who were also playing the second of a back to back following a 3-1 win against the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday.
Tampa Bay, which finished a four-game homestand 2-1-1, remained four points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs, who have two games in hand, for second in the Atlantic Division.
"Are we a better team now than we were? No question," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "Is it disappointing to only get five of eight points? It is. We definitely thought we should have gotten points out of this game, and we didn't. And we thought we should have gotten two points against Vegas (a 4-3 overtime loss to the Golden Knights on Thursday). Now we've just got to go on the road and get some on the road."

Alex Killorn gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead at 1:19 of the first period when he kicked a backhand pass from Cirelli to his stick and had his shot squeak through Hellebuyck.
"I thought we had a ton of chances tonight," Killorn said. "I thought we played a good, solid game. Obviously, we didn't get the win. I don't even know how many posts we hit during the game. The way we played is going the right way, and if you do that consistently, you're going to win a lot more than you lose."
Schmidt tied it 1-1 at 10:15 with a wrist shot from the blue line through traffic, and Niederreiter gave Winnipeg a 2-1 lead at 1:01 of the second period with a power-play goal.
Barron extended it to 3-1 at 9:04, scoring on the rebound of a shot by Brenden Dillon.
"I thought [our line] was solid," said Barron, who played with Adam Lowry and Mason Appleton. "I thought we created some chances. We held the zone defensively. They're a good team and they're going to create some chances. I think we're happy with it."

The Lightning challenged Barron's goal for goaltender interference, but a video review confirmed there was no infraction by Dillon on the play.
"I saw some replays on the bench. Those ones are tough to overturn," Dillon said. "Sometimes you never know how it's going to go. It turned out to be the game-winner."
On the ensuing power play for delay of game, Cirelli scored a short-handed goal to cut it to 3-2 at 10:01. After he partially blocked a point shot by Neal Pionk, Cirelli received a stretch pass from Hagel and scored on a breakaway.
"There's only a certain amount of games left before the playoffs and guys are pushing, teams are starting to push," Tampa Bay forward Corey Perry said. "We're starting to play the right way, but at the same time, we've still got a little bit more."
Cirelli left the game at 14:20 after he received an illegal check to the head by Mark Scheifele, who was assessed a minor penalty on the play. Cooper did not have any update on Cirelli after the game.
Victor Hedman had a chance to tie it during a 6-on-5, but his shot from the slot hit the post at 19:56.
"We might have had [three] posts today and we might have had one with four seconds left," Cooper said. "A goalie's best friend is the post, and it was Hellebuyck's tonight."
NOTES: Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov had his home point streak end at 24 games. He had 43 points (eight goals, 35 assists) during the streak. ... Dillon played in his 800th NHL game. … Lightning captain Steven Stamkos had two shots on goal, two blocked shots and was minus-1 in 17:49 of ice time after missing the final two periods on Saturday with a lower-body injury. … Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey did not play after sustaining a lower-body injury on Saturday. Dylan Samberg played in his place. … Niederreiter extended his point streak to six games (three goals, three assists). … Schmidt has four points (two goals, two assists) during a four-game point streak since being healthy scratched on March 4.