Jets fall to Lightning for first road loss of season
Written by I Dig SportsThe Tampa Bay Lightning handed the Winnipeg Jets their first road loss of the season and stopped their seven-game win streak with a 4-1 victory Thursday night.
Winnipeg lost for just the second time in 17 games this season and dropped to 7-1 on the road.
The Jets were seeking to become the fifth team in NHL history to win its first eight road games.
The Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy made 24 saves in his 300th NHL win, becoming the 40th goaltender in league history to win 300 games. He reached the milestone in 490 games, the fewest in NHL history, 31 faster than Jacques Plante.
Jake Guentzel scored twice for the Lightning, who had lost their previous five games against the Jets, including 7-4 in Winnipeg on Nov. 3.
Guentzel put Tampa Bay in front 7:24 into the first period, and goals by Brandon Hagel and Anthony Cirelli 57 seconds apart early in the second made it 3-0, the largest deficit the Jets had faced this season.
Winnipeg captain Adam Lowry scored on a deflection at 6:54 of the second, but Guentzel got an empty-netter with 21 seconds left.
Jets backup goalie Eric Comrie made 25 saves but lost for the first time in his four starts this season.
Winnipeg's power play entered the game leading the NHL at 42.2%, but it went 0-for-5.
Tampa Bay, coming off a seven-day layoff, won for the first time this month after going 0-3-1 in its first four November games.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.