The Tampa Bay Lightning scored three goals in each of the first two periods to blast the Winnipeg Jets, 8-3, at the Tampa Bay Times Forum on Friday, Feb. 1.
Rookie Corey Conacher scored twice and Steven Stamkos added his fifth goal of the season, as Tampa Bay skated to its fifth straight win. The Lightning (6-1-0) improved to 15-2-1 against Winnipeg dating back to 2009, when the Jets franchise was based in Atlanta.
Winnipeg, which entered the game with the National Hockey League's worst penalty-kill percentage, allowed three power play goals in the first period. Stamkos and Vincent Lecavalier lit the lamp with 5-on-3 goals less than three minutes apart late in the period. The Jets allowed three power play goals to the Florida Panthers in a 6-3 loss on Thursday.
"We can't afford to do this again," Jets captain Andrew Ladd told NHL.com. "To dig yourself that big of a hole two games in a row, two big road games against two division teams is unacceptable and something that will not happen again."
Nate Thompson, Teddy Purcell, Ryan Malone and Benoit Pouliot added goals for the Lightning. A shaky Ondrej Pavelec (14 saves) was replaced by Al Montoya after Thompson made it 5-0 at 4:45 of the second period. Conversely, Tampa's Anders Lindback made 26 saves for his fourth straight victory.
Tobias Enstrom, Paul Postma and Ladd scored third period goals for the Jets (3-4-1), who finished a three-game road trip without a victory. Postma's goal at 6:35 was the first of his NHL career and made it 6-2. Enstrom and Postma each had a pair of assists in the third period.
The Jets return home to face the Florida Panthers at the MTS Centre on Tuesday, Feb. 5. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. CT.
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