Winnipeg made its move in the 2nd. The Jets scored twice in the middle frame and took a 2-0 lead into the final intermission, which was a lot more cushion than a team that gave up 6, 5 and 7 in the losses that opened its last 5 usually gets. The thin blue line the preview worried about held for 40 minutes, and the goaltending behind it kept a team that put 6 on the Jets in October off the board.
The 3rd period is where the goals finally came, from both sides. Tampa scored 3, its most in any period on the night, but Winnipeg answered with 2 of its own. That was enough to keep the Lightning chasing the whole way. The final was 4-3 Jets, and Tampa's run of 4-goal games ended at 5 on a night when its first 40 minutes produced nothing.
Tampa's road split took another hit. The Lightning came in perfect at home and had taken every one of their losses away from Amalie, and this was the 2nd night of a road back-to-back after needing overtime in Minnesota. A team with tired legs that goes 2 periods without a goal and then wakes up in the 3rd fits that profile, even if the line score can't prove it was fatigue.
For Winnipeg, this backs up the case that the post-Hellebuyck roster is more than a 2-game blip. After the 5-4 win in Montreal and the 6-2 win over Vancouver, the Jets beat a team they lost to by 2 last month, and they did it without their top defenseman. They gave up 3 in the 3rd, so it wasn't airtight. Still, the 2-0 lead they built while Tampa couldn't score is what won this game.
Tampa leaves Manitoba with the same question it brought in: can the Lightning win on the road the way they win at home? They found 3 goals late, which counts for something on the 2nd night of a back-to-back. They also lost a game in which they were shut out for 40 minutes by a club that came into the week winless in 9.
