Deadspin: Pontus Holmberg’s 4-Point Night Powers Lightning Past Jets in 6-4 Win
Lightning strike first
Brayden Point opened the scoring at 2:20 of the first period, taking a pass from Nikita Kucherov in the slot and beating Winnipeg goalie Stuart Skinner. The Jets tied it late in the period when Neal Pionk’s shot from the blue line went past Andrei Vasilevskiy.
Dominic James helped create an odd-man rush that Conor Geekie finished at 9:43 of the second. Anthony Cirelli scored on a power play at 15:56, earning his 200th career assist during a four-goal period for Tampa Bay.
Tampa Bay builds lead
The Lightning also got a goal and two assists from Point. Vasilevskiy stopped 17 shots, while Skinner made 16 saves through two periods before Nico Daws replaced him. Daws stopped all nine shots he faced in his Jets debut.
Jets rally but fall short
Pionk scored twice in his 600th NHL game. Dylan Samberg and Kyle Connor each had a goal and an assist, while Mark Scheifele recorded three assists and Cole Perfetti had two.
Samberg and Pionk scored 1:50 apart in the third period, and Connor brought Winnipeg within 5-4 with 2:48 remaining. Holmberg’s empty-net goal sealed Tampa Bay’s win. The Jets have lost seven straight games, going 0-5-2, to start a four-game road trip.
Key points
- Holmberg had a career-high four points, with one goal and three assists.
- Tampa Bay scored four goals in the second period and improved to 6-0-0 at home.
- Winnipeg fell 6-4 despite scoring three times in the third period.
- The Jets’ losing streak reached seven games at the start of a four-game road trip.