TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING NOTES:
LAST GAME
Lightning 1 at Minnesota 5
The Tampa Bay Lightning’s four-game win streak came to a close with a 5-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild Wednesday night at Xcel Energy Center…The Bolts fell to 24-12-1 on the season with a road record of 9-8-0…The loss to MIN was Tampa Bay’s first loss to a Central Division this season after winning the previous six contests…The Lightning dropped to 3-4-0 in the second half of back-to-back games this season…Andrei Vasilevskiy was scheduled to start in goal for Tampa Bay, but was unable to play due to illness, forcing Brian Elliott to start for the second-straight night for the first time since he did so Dec. 28-29, 2017 with Philadelphia…Joel Eriksson Ek opened the scoring for MIN at the 14:30 mark of the first period before Kirill Kaprizov and Calen Addison scored back-to-back goals at the 7:09 and 9:27 marks of the middle frame to make it 3-0…Brayden Point got the Lightning back within two when he scored on the power play to make it a 3-1 game off assists from Brandon Hagel and Nikita Kucherov with 6:23 remaining in the second…Sam Steel put MIN back up by three 1:58 after Point’s goal when a shot from Jared Spurgeon deflected off his leg and into the back of the net…Kaprizov added an empty-net goal with 2:03 left in regulation for the final tally of the game…Elliott made 28 saves on 32 shots against in the loss.
PP: TBL – 1-4 MIN – 1-3
SOG: TBL – 35 MIN – 33
Attendance: 18,427
TONIGHT’S MATCHUP
The Lightning and the Jets are playing the first of two matchups this season and the only meeting at Canada Life Centre…The Bolts posted a 1-1-0 record vs. WPG last season…Nikita Kucherov (2-3—5) and Victor Hedman (1-4— 5) were tied for the Tampa Bay lead in points vs. WPG last season, while Alex Killorn (2-0—2) was tied with Kucherov for the team lead in goals…Brian Elliott and Andrei Vasilevskiy each started one game vs. WPG last season with Elliott earning the lone win…The Lightning are 5-3-2 in their last 10 games at WPG and 5-4-1 in the last 10 meetings overall…The Bolts have scored three or more goals in 13 of their last 15 games vs. WPG, including 12 contests with four or more goals…Steven Stamkos has recorded points in six straight games vs. WPG (4-7—11) with five multi-point efforts during that span…Stamkos has pointed in nine of his last 10 games vs. WPG (5-9— 14)…Kucherov has picked up points in six consecutive games vs. WPG (5-6—11)…Kucherov has pointed in 12 of his 16 career games vs. WPG (10-11—21)…Brayden Point has recorded points in four of his five career games at WPG (1-6—7)…Killorn has scored a goal in three straight games vs. WPG (3-0—3) and pointed in four straight (3-1—4)…Anthony Cirelli has picked up four points in three career games at WPG (3-1—4) and scored his only career hat trick Jan. 17, 2020 at WPG…Tampa Bay is 13-9-4 all-time vs. WPG, including a road record of 6-5-2…Stamkos (14- 16—30) holds the Lightning franchise records for career goals and points vs. WPG.
TBL ALL-TIME POINT LEADERS VS. WPG
- Steven Stamkos – 30 pts. (14-16—30, 22 GP)
T2. Nikita Kucherov – 21 pts. (10-11—21, 16 GP)
T2. Victor Hedman – 21 pts. (5-16—21, 24 GP) - Ondrej Palat – 15 pts. (5-10—15, 16 GP)
- Martin St. Louis – 12 pts. (5-7—12, 12 GP)
TONIGHT’S STORYLINES
Tampa Bay is playing the third and final game of a three-game road trip tonight…The Bolts will play eight of their 13 games in January on the road…The Lightning are 6-1-0 against Central Division opponents this season…Tampa Bay is 9-8-0 on the road this season…Zach Bogosian was drafted third overall by the Atlanta Thrashers in the 2008 NHL Draft before the organization relocated to Winnipeg.
INJURIES
2022-23 Regular Season Man Games Lost: 82
Current Injuries:
Rudolfs Balcers (Upper-body injury; Out indefinitely) 17 Games
TRANSACTIONS
Jan. 2 – Signed D Nick Perbix to a two-year contract extension
GAME POINT
Tampa Bay forward Brayden Point scored his team-leading 22nd goal of the season Jan. 4 at MIN and extended his point streak to six games (6-2—8)…Point has found the back of the net in 10 of his last 13 contests and picked up points in 11 of those games (12-3—15)…Since Dec. 6, only Alex Ovechkin (16) and Tage Thompson (14) have scored more goals than Point’s 12…Point (22-17—39) leads all Lightning skaters in goals and game-winning goals (6), while ranking third in points and fifth in assists…Point’s 22 goals are tied for the 10th-most among all NHL skaters…Only Leon Draisaitl (8) has scored more game-winning goals than Point this season…Point has recorded a shot on goal in every game this season…Point has scored 20 goals in six consecutive seasons, making him the fifth player in Tampa Bay franchise history to do so (also: Vincent Lecavalier, 12; Martin St. Louis, 9; Steven Stamkos, 8; Nikita Kucherov, 7)…Point became the first member of the 2014 NHL Draft Class drafted outside of the first round to record 400 career points with a goal Dec. 21 at DET…Point is tied with Kucherov for the fourth-most game-winning goals in Tampa Bay franchise history (41)…Since the start of the 2017-18 season, only three NHL skaters have scored more game-winning goals than Point’s 39.
WINNIPEG JETS NOTES:
Scene Setter
The Winnipeg Jets plays the middle game of a three-game homestand on Friday night when the Tampa Bay Lightning visits Canada Life Centre for the only time this season. Winnipeg edged the Calgary Flames 3-2 on Tuesday in the first game of the homestand. The Jets finish the home stretch on Sunday afternoon against the Vancouver Canucks before playing eight of nine games on the road
Last Game
Winnipeg Jets 3
Calgary Flames 2
Jets Scorers: Dillon (1), Morrissey (7), Gagner (7)
Flames Scorers: Zadorov (5), Backlund (8)
Jets Goaltender: Connor Hellebuyck (33 sv, 2 ga)
Flames Goaltender: Jacob Markstrom (22 sv, 3 ga)
Jets PP: 0-for-4
Jets PK: 2-for-2
Recap: The Jets scored twice in the third period to beat the Calgary Flames 3-2 on Tuesday night at Canada Life Centre. Brendan Dillon scored his first goal of the season to open the scoring. Josh Morrissey gave the Jets a 2-1 lead, while Sam Gagner scored the game-winning goal with 5:40 remaining in the third period. Connor Hellebuyck made 33 saves for his third consecutive win.
Above .600
The Jets are eighth in the NHL with a .645 points percentage, which also ranks second in the Central Division and third in the Western Conference… Winnipeg’s best points percentage in franchise history was in 2017-18 when the team finished at .695… The franchise has finished a season with a points percentage better than .600 four times.
Three in a Row
The Jets have won three in a row for the fifth time this season… Winnipeg joins the Boston Bruins as the only two teams in the NHL this season
with five winning streaks of three games or more… The Jets longest winning streak this season is four games, which occurred from Dec. 4-9.
Making the Most of It
The Jets have scored three goals or less in seven of their past 10 games… Winnipeg has been one of the best teams in the NHL this season when scoring three goals or less with an 8-13-0 record for a .381 points percentage, which is fourth in the league.
The January Ahead
After playing 16 games in 30 days in December, the Jets play 15 games in 28 days from Jan. 2-30, but open the month with two games in the first seven days… Seven of the 15 games are at home… Winnipeg’s eight road games in January come in the form of a three-game road trip and five-game road trip… The Jets are 13-16-3 in January during the past four seasons.
Facing Eastward
This is Winnipeg’s 12th game against an Eastern Conference opponent this season, having gone 5-6-0 so far… The Jets play eight of their next 10 games against Eastern Conference teams, seven of which are on the road… Pierre-Luc Dubois has a team leading 14 points (5G, 9A) in 11 games against the Eastern Conference this season.
Home Comforts
The Jets are 14-6-0 at Canada Life Centre this season, which is fourth in the NHL and first in the Western Conference… Kyle Connor (10G, 18A) leads the team with 28 points in 20 home games… Mark Scheifele’s 15 goals at home has him nine goals behind his career high 24 goals he had at home during the 2018-19 season… Connor Hellebuyck has been stellar on home ice this season, going 12-5-0 with a 1.88 goals-against average, .938 save percentage and three shutouts… Winnipeg is 243-155-36 all-time at Canada Life Centre and have posted a .500 record or better at home in six consecutive seasons.
On the PK
Winnipeg is tied for fourth in the NHL with a penalty kill successful 82.7% of the time… The Jets are 13-for-14 (92.9%) on the penalty kill in their past five games… The last time the Jets had a penalty kill better than 82% was in 2013-14 when they finished the season at 83.2%… The franchise record for penalty kill percentage in a season is 85.2%, which occurred in Atlanta during the 2003-04 season.
And with that…
The Jets went 48-34-7 in 89 games during the 2022 calendar year, which was 16th in the NHL… Kyle Connor had a team-best 104 points (45G, 59A) in 86 games in 2022, which is 22 more than Mark Scheifele (44G, 38A), who was second… Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck went 36-27-7 in 2022 with a 2.83 goals-against average and .916 save percentage.
Team Leader
Kyle Connor has six points during a four-game scoring streak to propel him into the team scoring lead with 44 points (16G, 28A) in 38 games…He also led the Jets last season with 93 points (47G, 46A) in 79 games, which was the fourth most points in a season in franchise history… Connor’s 139 points (65G, 74A) in a span of 117 games during the past two seasons is the second most since relocation.
That’s Offensive
Jets defencemen have combined for 94 points this season, which is third in the NHL… Five of the six defenceman had a point on Tuesday against Calgary… It matched the five defencemen that had a point on Dec. 17 at Vancouver for the season high… Winnipeg’s defencemen are averaging 2.47 points per game, compared to 1.99 last season… They have contributed 27.6% of Winnipeg’s points this season.
Extra Time
The Jets are 7-1 in overtime this season… Winnipeg has won five consecutive OT games, which is one game shy of the franchise record in a season (Oct. 22/18-Jan. 13/19)… Winnipeg’s eight OT games are tied for the third most in the NHL this season and the Jets are the only team with seven wins in overtime… Winnipeg is the only team in the NHL this season to not play in a shootout this season.. Five of Winnipeg’s seven OT winners have come in the first two minutes of the extra session… Mark Scheifele holds the franchise record with 12 OT winning goals… The seven wins is two better than the five overtime wins Winnipeg had last season in 12 games decided in OT… During the past three seasons, Winnipeg is 18-9 in games decided in overtime… The franchise record for OT wins is 10, set in 2010-11.
Narrow One s
Winnipeg’s past two wins have come by one goal…. The Jets improved to 10-4-1 in one-goal games with Tuesday’s win… Last season Winnipeg went 12-5-11 in one-goal games.
Zeros
The Jets have registered three shutouts this season, which is tied for third in the NHL… Winnipeg’s first two shutouts were by 4-0 scores (Oct. 24 vs. STL and Nov. 5 vs. CHI), while the Nov. 29 5-0 shutout against Colorado gives the Jets all three shutout wins by at least four goals… The Jets had five shutouts last season, which is two shy of the franchise record.
Jets vs. TBL Notes
Season Series
The Jets and Lightning tangle twice this season… Winnipeg visits Tampa Bay on Mar. 12 as part of a three-game road trip.
Recent History
The teams have split the two-game season series in each of the five seasons in which they have played… Since 2015, the Jets are 6-4-3 in 13 games against the Lightning… Winnipeg is 7-for-19 (36.8%) on the power play in its past seven games against Tampa Bay and 7-for-8 (87.5%) on the penalty kill in the past four meetings.
In Winnipeg
The Jets are 7-4-2 all-time against the Lightning at Canada Life Centre, including winning three of the past four games… Winnipeg has held Tampa Bay without a power play goal in five of the past six games at Canada Life Centre.
Player Notes
Blake Wheeler leads the Jets in career scoring against Tampa Bay with 36 points (10G, 26A) in 37 games… Nikolaj Ehlers is averaging a point per game against Tampa Bay with 12 points (7G, 5A) in 12 games… Three of Kyle Connor’s five goals against the Lightning are game-winning goals.
Jets vs. TBL Past 10 Games
Date Opp Res G GA S PPO PPG PIM SA PPOA PPGA PIMA
01/03/2017 @TB W 6 4 34 4 1 14 36 7 2 10
02/11/2017 TB L 1 4 33 3 0 6 30 2 0 8
12/09/2017 @TB OTL 3 4 20 1 0 8 28 3 1 4
01/30/2018 TB W 3 1 37 4 1 8 24 4 0 8
12/16/2018 TB W 5 4 42 1 1 4 47 2 2 2
03/05/2019 @TB L 2 5 32 3 2 12 38 4 2 10
11/16/2019 @TB W 4 3 27 4 1 4 34 2 0 8
01/17/2020 TB L 1 7 31 2 0 2 26 1 0 4
03/08/2022 TB W 7 4 33 4 1 8 24 3 0 10
04/16/2022 @TB L 4 7 18 1 1 18 37 2 1 16
Winnipeg Jets Recent Transactions
Jan. 4 Reassigned F – Jansen Harkins to the Manitoba Moose (AHL)
Jan. 5 Reassigned F – Kristian Reichel to the Manitoba Moose (AHL)
