Winnipeg’s trip to Tampa Bay puts two very different scoring stories together. The Jets have lost six straight and haven’t scored on the power play in their last five games. The Lightning have scored freely lately, but they’ve also allowed enough to lose their last two. For Winnipeg, the opening is there; the harder question is whether an attack stuck at one or two goals can make use of it.
The Jets need their power play to contribute
Florida beat Winnipeg 5-1 on Tuesday, scoring three power-play goals while the Jets’ only goal came short-handed from Adam Lowry. That left Winnipeg 0-for-14 on the power play over its last five games.
The scoring trouble extends beyond that unit. Winnipeg has managed just seven goals across its last five games, with no more than two in any of them. Those games have included narrow losses to St. Louis, Dallas and Montreal as well as Tuesday’s heavier defeat. The Jets don’t need every part of their game to change at once, but getting something from their power play would ease the pressure on an attack that has left little room for error.
Tampa Bay’s recent results offer a reason to keep that possibility in view. The Lightning lost 5-4 in overtime at Utah on Saturday after leading 3-1 and 4-2. That followed a 6-3 loss at Colorado. Winnipeg’s scoring slump is substantial, but it’s facing a team that has conceded 11 goals over its last two games.
A big favorite with a recent vulnerability
DraftKings has Tampa Bay at -245 and Winnipeg at +200. The Lightning have won seven of their last 10 games, compared with three wins for the Jets. That broader gap makes Tampa Bay’s favorite status understandable, even though its latest defensive results complicate the price.
The expected goalies add another useful comparison, though neither is confirmed to start. Stuart Skinner has a .904 save percentage across his five most recent appearances for Winnipeg this season. He allowed two goals in three of those outings. Andrei Vasilevskiy’s corresponding five-appearance figure for Tampa Bay is .876, including five goals allowed on 23 shots against Colorado in his latest appearance. Those are recent samples, but they give Winnipeg a more specific source of encouragement than simply hoping its losing streak ends.
Tampa Bay also has an availability concern among its forwards: Brandon Hagel was reported day-to-day with an undisclosed injury on Wednesday. He is part of the expected second-line group alongside Anthony Cirelli and Jake Guentzel. His status is worth checking before evaluating the Lightning’s attacking depth.
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Opposing trends meet at 6.5 goals
The total is 6.5. Winnipeg’s last five games have all gone under their respective totals, and nine of its 12 games this season have finished under. The stalled power play and repeated low scoring help explain why those results deserve attention.
Tampa Bay supplies the counterweight. Its last three games have all gone over, with the Lightning scoring six, three and four goals. The two latest losses show that Winnipeg’s limited output may not be the only route to a high-scoring game: Tampa Bay can contribute plenty itself, while its recent goals allowed leave room for the Jets to improve. On the other side, Skinner’s recent two-goal outings offer Winnipeg a way to keep the game manageable while it searches for offense.
The most useful test is whether Winnipeg can turn a Tampa Bay defensive lapse or a power play into meaningful scoring. The Lightning bring the stronger results over 10 games, but their recent vulnerability gives the Jets a plausible opening. Until Winnipeg converts more of those openings, its scoring slump remains central to both the upset case and the total.
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