The offensive potency the Tampa Bay Lightning have displayed during their current road winning streak likely doesn’t bode well for the Winnipeg Jets, whose defensive struggles continue to mount.
Looking for a season-high fifth straight road victory, the Lightning can hand the Jets a third consecutive defeat on Tuesday night.
With two 20-plus-goal scorers this season, and eight with at least 10 goals, Tampa Bay’s offensive prowess is not surprising. However, the Lightning have outscored their opponents 19-11 during a road winning stretch that reached four in a row with Sunday’s 6-3 victory at Chicago to open a six-game trek.
Four of those goals came from defensemen, including two by Victor Hedman, whose 13 are fourth-most for NHL blueliners this season.
Six of Tampa Bay’s last 15 goals over the past four games have come via defensemen. Mikhail Sergachev has recorded three of his five goals on the season during that four-game stretch.
“(The defenseman are) a big part of how we do things, especially with some of the guys we have back there,” said Lightning coach Jon Cooper, whose club has won two straight and seven of the last eight overall.
“It doesn’t mean they have to get a point every night, but usually they’re around (the net) or a lot of their shot volume is leading (to) goals for us.”
The entire Tampa Bay roster presents an obvious challenge for Winnipeg, which fell 7-1 at home when these clubs last met on Jan. 17, 2020. This current version of the Jets has been nearly as generous when it comes to allowing goals.
Mired in a 2-4-2 rut and struggling to find a way into playoff position in the Western Conference, Winnipeg has yielded four goals in three straight contests and at least three in each of the last 11, averaging 3.6 goals against per game in that span. The New York Rangers scored two in the first period and two in the third to hand the Jets a 4-1 home defeat on Sunday.
Winnipeg is 1-2-1 at home since Feb. 19.
“We just got to win some games,” said forward Nikolaj Ehlers, who scored the Jets’ lone goal on Sunday.
“Obviously, there are things that need to change, and we need to do that now… We want to make the playoffs, (but) we got to start winning some games. It’s not in three or four games. It’s now.”
Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck has started an NHL-high 47 games in goal this season, and the work appears to be wearing on the veteran. He’s posted a 3.71 goals-against average during his current 1-4-2 stretch. Backup Eric Comrie has started just nine games this season, but has a 2.35 GAA during a three-game winning streak.
Tampa Bay star Andrei Vasilevskiy has made 43 starts in 2021-22, but yielded seven goals in splitting his last two. Teammate Brian Elliott has stopped 65 of 70 shots while winning three in a row.
With a goal Sunday, 36-year-old Lightning forward Corey Perry continued his career resurgence with his 16th goal this season. Six of them have come over the last 13 games.
Winnipeg defenseman Neal Pionk recorded an assist Sunday for his sixth in seven games.
–Field Level Media
