Raw Charge
Summary
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 and did not return. Gourde moved into Point’s spot on the top line, leaving Tampa Bay with just 10 healthy forwards. Despite the loss of Point, the Lightning outshot Winnipeg 7-5 in a scoreless opening period. After an even first the Jets took control in the second. Cole Perfetti converted a Mark Scheifele pass on the power play, beating Andrei Vasilevskiy from the slot for a 1-0 lead. Tampa Bay had an opportunity to respond on its third power play, but with Point out, the unit looked disjointed, and soon after the power play expired, the Jets extended their lead. Neal Pionk found Morgan Barron with a cross-ice pass, and Barron’s one-timer extended the Jets’ lead to 2-0. The Lightning opened the third period with a golden opportunity when John Carlson broke in on a two-on-none rush but couldn’t connect with Anthony Cirelli. Minutes later, Vasilevskiy kept Tampa Bay within reach with a point-blank save on Kyle Connor. It proved to be temporary as Winnipeg extended its lead to 3-0 after Pontus Holmberg received a double minor for high-sticking Brandon Yager. Yager capitalized on the power play, one-timing a pass from Viggo Bjorck into an open net for his first NHL goal. Then came a remarkable Lightning comeback. Brandon Hagel started the rally at 10:22, scoring his ninth goal of the season off a feed from Cirelli. Holmberg followed by burying a rebound after Stuart Skinner couldn’t control an Erik Cernak slapshot, cutting the deficit to 3-2. Just 26 seconds later, Holmberg struck again, beating Skinner to tie the game at 3-3. Tampa Bay had erased a three-goal deficit with three goals in just 4:05. But the momentum quickly shifted as another penalty proved costly. Gourde was called for tripping Neal Pionk in the neutral zone, and Cernak followed with a delay-of-game penalty for closing his hand on the puck, giving Winnipeg a two-man advantage. The Lightning survived the initial pressure and appeared headed for overtime. However, with seconds remaining, Ryan McDonagh had an opportunity to clear the puck but instead tried to kill the remaining time. Winnipeg forced a turnover, and Cole Perfetti found Scheifele, who blasted a one-timer past Vasilevskiy with less than a second remaining. What looked like another remarkable comeback turned into a heartbreaking defeat for Tampa Bay. The Lightning continue their four-game road trip Wednesday night in Buffalo and Thursday in Columbus to face the Blue Jackets. Both games have a puck drop scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. The victorious Jets will welcome back former netminder Connor Hellebuyck and the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night. Hellebuyck, the former team USA goaltender, sat out the first month of the season until he traded to New Jersey for a package that included goaltender Nico Daws. #NHL Game Score Impact Card for Tampa Bay Lightning on 2026-11-08:#GoBolts — HockeyStatCards (@hockeystatcards.com) 2026-11-09T01:40:02.191Z