The Winnipeg Jets closed out their week-long eastern road trip with at least a somewhat better effort against the Tampa Bay Lightning. It was still a loss, but at least it was a 4-3 OT loss so at least the Jets do gain a point in the standings.

Funny enough, it was Brayden Point of the Lightning that scored the OT winner. The Hockey Gods are not without a sense of humour.

We don’t do the “TL;DR GIF SUMMARY” that we did last season, but if we did, the GIF that would have summed up this game for Jets fans would look like this:

The Jets took too many penalties which handcuffed them for a lot of the game, they struggled in getting out of their own zone and when they did get time in the offensive area, they struggled to get pucks directly on net. There were flashes of brilliance as you’d expect in getting three goals on the night. The Jets were outplayed for most of the night, but not grossly so and in some ways, they looked like they could hang with the Bolts.

Still, the Jets and their fans have to come away with a feeling of “that could have been worse” against such a strong team. In the end, tonight’s game may have been a perfect summation of the Jets season so far. A little bit of disappointment, some fortunate breaks and signs of something even better than what we’re seeing which in all reality isn’t that bad.

 

FOR WINNIPEG: Nik Ehlers – Had a goal and was flying around the ice all night long. At least three long rushes with the puck that generated chances for either himself or teammates.

FOR TAMPA BAY: Nikita Kucherov – Was dangerous the entire game with five shots on the Jets net and picking up a goal.

The only Canadian team that has likely been more of a pleasant surprise than the Jets have been are the  Vancouver Canucks and they make their first visit to Winnipeg on Monday.