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Jets seek turnaround in clash with Lightning

Mar 14, 2015 - 2:48 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Winnipeg Jets hope to get on track following a costly losing stretch as they visit the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night at Amalie Arena.

The Jets have lost six of their past nine games, falling in defeat for a second straight contest with Thursday's 4-2 loss to the Florida Panthers. As a result, Winnipeg fell a point behind the Los Angeles Kings for the second wild card spot in the Western Conference.

Winnipeg, which also is now just two points ahead of the San Jose Sharks in the standings, has played one more game than Los Angeles, which hosts the Nashville Predators on Saturday night.

Without defenseman Dustin Byfuglien (upper body) and forward Bryan Little (lower body) due to injury, the Jets saw the Panthers net a tie-breaking goal with 3:53 remaining.

Michael Hutchinson stopped just 16-of-19 shots for Winnipeg, with Mark Scheifele and Drew Stafford lighting the lamp. Michael Frolik had an assist to give him five goals and three helpers over a career-high eight-game point streak.

"I think frustrating is the word," Stafford said. "Now is the time we need every point possible. We just need to figure out a way to turn this thing around. We'll take what we can from this one and get ready for another tough challenge in Tampa."

That challenge could come without defenseman Tyler Myers, who suffered an upper-body injury in the second period versus the Panthers. He attempted to return to the game after sliding into the boards in the second frame, but was unable to finish out the contest.

Myers' status for this game is unknown, but the Jets did recall defenseman Keaton Ellerby from the minors on Friday.

Winnipeg will try to earn a split of a four-game road trip tonight as it visits a Tampa Bay club that is set to play the first of six in a row as the host. The Lightning are 26-6-1 at Amalie Arena this season, setting a single- season franchise record for home victories.

The Bolts were unable to secure a victory on the road Thursday, falling 3-2 in a shootout to the Boston Bruins. The Bruins got a pair of goals in the shootout, while Nikita Kucherov and Jonathan Drouin came up empty on their attempts.

Steven Stamkos and Vladislav Namestnikov scored in regulation and Ben Bishop made 28 stops for the Lightning, who had a four-game win streak snapped. Tyler Johnson recorded an assist and has three goals and seven helpers on an eight- game point streak.

"We went on the road and finished with three out of four (points)," said Bolts head coach Jon Cooper. "I think the goaltender did well though he was left out there at times."

The Lightning, who recently lost defenseman Braydon Coburn and forwards Cedric Paquette and Ondrej Palat to injury, did move into a tie with the Montreal Canadiens for first place in the Atlantic Division with the point. The Habs do have a game in hand and visit the New York Islanders tonight.

Tampa Bay picked up a second straight win over the Jets with a 4-2 win at Winnipeg on Oct. 24. Drouin netted his first career goal with an assist and Bishop made 40 saves.

Little and Blake Wheeler had the goals for the Jets and Ondrej Pavelec yielded four goals on 18 shots through two periods in defeat.

The Lightning have won nine of the last 12 at home in this series.