Dominic James gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead at 14:58 of the first period, firing a shot from the left circle after Darren Raddysh sent it in alone on a breakaway following a long pass from JJ Moser. It was James’ fifth of the season.
Winnipeg entered Thursday night with a 2-16-3 record when allowing the opening goal, a recurring problem this season.
Tampa had a one-goal lead after 20 minutes, while Winnipeg led the shots 11-10.
The Lightning struck just 1:37 into the second period, opening a two-goal cushion. Raddysh fired a slap shot from the point for his third goal in as many games, his 15th of the year.
Kyle Connor, who had not scored in his previous five games, got the Jets on the board at 12:25 with a short side tip of Dylan Samberg’s shot for his 24th of the campaign, giving Winnipeg some life.
That momentum didn’t last long. Less than three minutes later, Yanni Gourde restored Tampa’s two-goal lead on a delayed penalty, redirecting a quick centering feed from Nikita Kucherov between the circles.
The Bolts led by two after the middle frame as they defeated the Jets 21-19.
Tampa closed things out defensively in the third, with Winnipeg keeping just four shots on goal while making 16 of their own. Kucherov added an empty-netter at 18:52 to seal the 4-1 victory, his 27th of the season.
“I mean, they’re a good team. They stick to their system very well,” Morgan Barron said after the game. “They have a lot of skills, but they play hard and they are very disciplined when it comes to giving up chances and sticking to their systems. Sometimes that requires us to be patient and keep putting the puck behind them, and we probably didn’t do that well enough at times.”
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