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The opening frame began rather quickly but slowed to an absolute crawl as the period wore on. Fans that showed up late were unable to get to their seats until midway through at earliest as ushers held them to the foyer until the first whistle – which came at 10:24. But following the back-and-forth first half, linesmen and referees couldn’t hit their whistles enough, it seemed.
Moments after Connor Hellebuyck robbed a wide-open Steven Stamkos with a sprawling pad save, he allowed the Bolts on the board on a play setup from Stamkos and finished by Anthony Cirelli. Coming with 8:12 remaining, the Lightning’s lead lasted until the final minute of the frame.
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Recently announced NHL all-star selection Josh Morrissey got things going in the offensive zone, where he dished the puck to Kyle Connor, who turned off the boards and put a heavy wrist shot on net. Pierre-Luc Dubois managed to get a piece of it before the puck found its way through Andrei Vasilevskiy, knotting the game at ones with 38 seconds left in the period.
Tampa wasted little time restoring its lead, however, with Nikita Kucherov putting his 14th of the season through Hellebuyck and a heavy screen just 95 seconds into the middle stanza. The puck very well may have deflected off defenceman Dylan Samberg before it found its way into the net.
With both Cal Foote and Nick Paul in the box for the Bolts, Winnipeg wasted little time capitalizing on the ensuing two-man advantage. Dubois found his second of the game, redirecting yet another shot, this time, Morrissey’s. After falling behind 12-4 on the shot chart through 20 minutes, the Jets responded with nine pucks on net to narrow the gap to four shots, trailing the Lightning 17-13 after two periods of work.
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