Jets at Lightning
The Winnipeg Jets have seemed to lose their focus with two straight losses after climbing to the top of the Western Conference and look to get back on track when they visit the NHL-best Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday. The Jets had gone 9-2-1 during a dominant 12-game stretch, but allowed 11 goals while losing at Detroit and Florida to start a road trip that ends in Tampa.
Winnipeg right wing Patrik Laine, who has scored in four straight games, told reporters he thinks the Jets “thought it’s going to be easy for these two games” after scoring 21 times in the previous four contests and coach Paul Maurice welcomes a battle against the Lightning. “Well, it will be good for us,” Maurice told reporters. “Because if we don’t play with a defense-first attitude, they’ll put 10 on us. It will be a good opportunity for us to get our minds right.” The Lightning seek a sweep of their four-game homestand after rolling to a 5-2 victory over Colorado on Thursday as captain Steven Stamkos took over the league lead with 41 points, recording three in the triumph. “It’s not easy to win games consistently in this league,” Stamkos told reporters. “We want to bank as many wins as we can on home ice.”
TV: 7 p.m. ET, CITY (Winnipeg), FSN Sun (Tampa Bay)
ABOUT THE JETS (17-8-4): While Laine has totaled eight points during his four-game goal streak, captain Blake Wheeler remained red hot by scoring three times and helping set up nine others in the past six contests. Center Mark Scheifele is second on the team behind Wheeler (37) with 32 points despite being held off the scoresheet in the first two games of the trip. Nikolaj Ehlers is third on the team with 12 goals after scoring for the second time in four December games and fellow forward Kyle Connor has zero points in two games since missing a contest with a lower-body injury.
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (20-6-2): Stamkos and linemate Vladislav Namestnikov each notched a goal and two assists in the victory over Colorado and the third member of the trio, Tyler Johnson, contributed a pair of helpers. Left wing Chris Kunitz has scored in back-to-back games and third-line center Yanni Gourde posted four points in the last three contests to give Tampa Bay solid secondary scoring. Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy got the night off Thursday in favor of backup Peter Budaj, and is expected back in net against the Jets with a sparkling 18-4-1 record and .932 save percentage.
OVERTIME
1. Winnipeg D Dustin Byfuglien is still seeking his first goal of the season, but has recorded four assists in the last three games.
2. Tampa Bay has scored at least one power-play goal in eight straight and 13 of the last 14 contests.
3. The Lightning have won five of the last seven meetings, but the Jets won 6-4 at Tampa Bay last season.