In Winnipeg, the Jets got goals from four different skaters and doubled up the visiting Tampa Bay Light, 4-2 on Tuesday night.
The Jets improved to 23-9-4, and have 7-0-2 over their last nine matches.
“(We are) just not getting too high and not getting too low,” the Jets’ Vladislav Namestnikov said. “Just staying steady. We know what it takes and we’re on the same page, so we just have to keep moving.”
Connor Hellebuyck made 32 saves in the win.
Steven Stamkos staked the Lightning to a 1-0 lead in the opening stanza off a power play goal at 6:18.
Winnipeg’s Neal Pionk knotted the game, 1-1, at 4:44 of the middle frame. The goal came off a deflection of a shot/pass from Brenden Dillon at the point.
“It’s about time he found me,” Pionk said jokingly of Dillon’s slap pass. “Honestly, we made eye contact in the corner and I said, ‘This might happen,’ and I actually got a piece of it and it went in. I couldn’t believe it.”
Tampa dropped to 18-16-5 off their third loss in four games.
“I think today we played good enough to win,” Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman said. “For us, we trust in what we have, and we’ve just got to keep believing. That’s the bottom line. Winnipeg has a great record for a reason and a solid team; well-coached, great goaltending. But I think we stood up pretty good and I felt like we could have gotten points out of this one.”
Winnipeg took the lead on a goal from Alex Iafallo at 9:13 of the second.
The Jets pushed the advantage to 3-1 when Nikolaj Ehlers potted a marker at 15:13 of the third period.
“The guys have all bought in from day one, that’s what it is,” Winnipeg coach Rick Bowness said. “It’s just a complete buy-in from everybody. Tonight we were slow out of the gates, there’s no question, they were coming at us. But good teams find a way to win. Tonight wasn’t a Picasso by any stretch early in the game, but when we got our legs going and started to play Winnipeg Jet hockey, when we get committed to that, there’s not a team in this league we can’t beat.”
Morgan Barron added a little more breathing room for Winnipeg when he scored into an empty net at 17:53 to push the lead to 4-1.
Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov added a late goal with 37 seconds left on the game clock with a power play strike and the 4-2 final count.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 24 saves in the loss.
“He’s the best in the world, and everyone’s going to make mistakes and he’s the first one to admit [it],” Hedman said of Vasilevskiy. “But we trust him 110 percent, and he’s the best in the world for a reason. He’s proven it year in and year out and everyone is allowed to make mistakes.”
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