The Tampa Bay Lightning entered Sunday night’s game in Winnipeg riding a three-game winning streak, having earned points in nine of their previous 10 games. But after benefiting from tired opponents in recent victories over Detroit, Chicago and Minnesota, the roles were reversed as the Lightning were the team having played the previous night. Despite Pontus Holmberg’s two goals powering a third period comeback, the Bolts fell 4-3 to the Jets as Mark Scheifele’s power play goal crossed the line with just a second left in regulation.
Tampa Bay was playing less than 24 hours after an overtime victory in Minnesota, while Winnipeg had been resting since Thursday’s 6-2 win over Vancouver. This time, it was the Lightning battling fatigue. Tampa Bay received a boost with Yanni Gourde’s return from injured reserve. Winnipeg, meanwhile, remained without top defenseman Josh Morrissey, who has played just four games this season. With Gourde back in the line-up, the Lightning went with an 11/7 line-up as Gage Goncalves and Scott Sabourin were the forwards who were cycled out for the game.
The forward depth took another hit midway through the first period when Brayden Point left with an injury a...