Ehlers ignites offense as Jets jolt Lightning
TAMPA, Fla. -- A converted penalty shot by Nikolaj Ehlers sparked three straight goals in the second period for the Winnipeg Jets, who held on late for a 6-4 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night at Amalie Arena.
Ehlers, who added a second goal -- his 12th -- in the third period, beat goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy on the penalty shot for a 2-1 lead, just 47 seconds after the Lightning had tied the game. Winnipeg (18-19-3) bounced back from two lopsided losses to open a three-game road trip, while Tampa Bay (19-16-4) saw Vasilevskiy match a season high with five goals allowed.
Down 5-2 with eight minutes left, Nikita Kucherov scored two power-play goals -- the latter with an empty net in 6-on-4 play with 2:31 left. Winnipeg put the game away with an empty-net goal by rookie Patrik Laine -- his 20th of the season -- with 1:23 left.
The Lightning got a goal from Ondrej Palat -- who had drawn three penalties on the night -- with 16:34 left in the third to pull within 4-2, but Ehlers answered with a goal six minutes later. The Lightning, finally converting on their sixth power play of the night, cut the deficit to 5-3 on Kucherov's 14th goal of the season with 7:38 remaining.
Tampa Bay had outshot Winnipeg 17-6 after the opening period but still trailed, and the Jets had no such inefficiency, scoring four goals on their first 16 shots. Winnipeg's Connor Hellebuyck stopped 32 shots for the win.
Winnipeg pulled away with three goals in the second period, two within two minutes of the Lightning tying the game at 1-1 after trailing early.
Lightning rookie Matthew Peca scored his first NHL goal with 16:17 left in the second to tie the game after Winnipeg led 1-0 after one period despite being outshot 14-2 early.
The opening period saw a combined seven penalties in the first 11 minutes, with Winnipeg getting a power-play goal on its first shot as Mark Scheifele scored his 16th goal on a redirect from Laine with 12:35 left in the period.
The Lightning's tying goal had barely been announced when Winnipeg earned a penalty shot after Kucherov was called for a penalty as the Jets had a 2-on-1.
Ehlers scored on the penalty shot, beating Vasilevskiy to the glove side for a 2-1 lead only 47 seconds after Peca's goal. Defenseman Jacob Trouba followed with his second goal of the season at 14:41 -- 49 seconds after Ehlers scored -- for a 3-1 lead.
Winnipeg added another goal with 5:16 left in the second as Dustin Byfuglien got his fifth goal past Vasilevskiy.
Tampa Bay came in with the league's No. 3 power play, but went 0-for-5 in the first two periods, twice getting a penalty while on the power play to set up a 4-on-4 situation and once turning a power play into a Jets' 4-on-3 advantage in the opening period.
NOTES: Tuesday marked the long-awaited return of Lightning F Ryan Callahan, who missed 15 games and more than a month with a hip injury suffered Nov. 29. ... Callahan's return coincided with C Brian Boyle being scratched with an undisclosed injury. ... C Cedric Paquette was sidelined for a sixth game with a lower-body injury. ... LW Adam Erne, 21, was called up to make his NHL debut, the Lightning's third player to do so in as many weeks. ... Lightning C Yanni Gourde and D/F Nikita Nesterov were healthy scratches. ... D Mark Stuart and RW Chris Thorburn were healthy scratches for Winnipeg, which had F Alexander Burmistrov claimed on waivers by the Arizona Coyotes on Monday.