Scheifele's Late Power-Play Goal Sinks Lightning After Third-Period Rally in Winnipeg
By William Doro | Thunderstruck Sports
Mark Scheifele scored on the power play in the final minute, and the Winnipeg Jets beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 Sunday night at Canada Life Centre. Down 3-0 early in the third period, the Bolts scored three goals in a little over four minutes to tie it, with two from Pontus Holmberg.
The loss drops Tampa Bay to 11-4-2 and ends their three-game winning streak. Tampa Bay was playing the second night of a back-to-back after a 4-3 overtime win at the Minnesota Wild on Saturday
Jets Strike First on the Power Play
Neither team scored in a tight first period. Winnipeg broke through 1:53 into the second, when Cole Perfetti scored on the power play off assists from Scheifele and Haydn Fleury.
Morgan Barron made it 2-0 at 12:38, with Neal Pionk and Viggo Bjorck picking up the assists.
Holmberg Leads the Comeback
Winnipeg looked to be in control when Brayden Yager scored his first NHL goal on the power play at 8:10 of the third, making it 3-0.
Brandon Hagel answered just over two minutes later. He scored at 10:22, set up by Anthony Cirelli, for his ninth goal of the season.
Holmberg then scored twice in 26 seconds. He cut it to 3-2 at 14:01 with assists from Erik Cernak and Zemgus Girgensons, then tied it 3-3 at 14:27 off feeds from Cernak and Ilya Mikheyev. Those were his fifth and sixth goals of the season.
Late Penalty Proves Costly
With the game headed for overtime, Cernak was called for closing his hand on the puck, which put Winnipeg on the power play. The Jets called a timeout, and Scheifele scored the winner at 19:58, assisted by Gabriel Vilardi and Perfetti.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 21 saves on 25 shots, and Stuart Skinner stopped 17 of 20 for Winnipeg. Special teams decided this one: the Jets went 3-for-5 on the power play, and the Lightning went 0-for-4.
The win was Winnipeg’s sixth straight at home against Tampa Bay. Scheifele’s two points leave him four points and three goals behind Dale Hawerchuk’s franchise records.
Thunderstruck Three Stars of the Game
Mark Scheifele, Winnipeg. The power-play winner in the final minute and an assist.
Brayden Yager, Winnipeg. 1 goal.
Pontus Holmberg, Tampa Bay. Two goals 26 seconds apart to tie the game.
Up Next
The Tampa Bay Lightning visit the Buffalo Sabres Wednesday night. Puck drop is at 7 pm.
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