A 2-0 lead midway through the first period wasn’t enough to earn the Tampa Bay Lightning a victory on Sunday as self-inflicted errors cost the Bolts dearly against the Winnipeg Jets in Manitoba.

Tampa Bay was the first team on the scoreboard thanks to a goal from Brandon Hagel 6 minutes and 49 seconds into the game. Brayden Point’s power play goal extended the Lightning’s lead to 2-0 after a challenge Winnipeg’s unsuccessful effort on Hagel’s goal, but the home team made up for the initial deficit in the final 40 minutes of the match.

The Jets scored three unanswered goals to take their first lead in the second period, and the Lightning failed to come back in a 7-4 loss at Canada Life Centre. The Lightning tied the game with scores of 3-3 and 4-4 after facing two deficits, but a Dylan Samberg goal sank the final result.

“I feel like we’re off to a really good start. We scored a few goals, everything was going our way,” Tampa Bay defenseman Eriik Cernak said. “And then unfortunately, a few mistakes and they took advantage of it. So it’s hard to see, you know? We just have to fight and be better.

Tampa Bay got the start it wanted on Sunday matinee. Hagel scored the first goal of the game after a point shot hit the crossbar behind Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck. As a flurry of players crushed the blue paint, Hagel waited in the slot, where the puck found him facing an open net.

After an unsuccessful challenge by Winnipeg coaches for goalie interference, Tampa Bay doubled its lead with Point’s fifth power-play goal, his eighth overall in 2024-25.

Sitting in a bumper position in the high slot, Point took a saucer pass from Nikita Kucherov 8:02 into the first.

Winnipeg’s efforts started with a familiar face. Former Lightning player Vladislav Namestnikov took advantage of a Tampa Bay turnover, scoring to cut Tampa Bay’s lead to 2-1 with 7:37 left in the first period.

Defenseman Logan Stanley tied the game 5:49 into the second period, and another Lightning giveaway ended with a goal from Mark Scheifele after a 2-on-1 with Gabriel Vilardi at 7:36.

Lightning forward Mitchell Chaffee had the answer for Tampa Bay midway through the second, tying the game 8:39 into the period. Jake Guentzel found Chaffee on the open ice on the rush, and Tampa Bay’s No. 41 whistled a wrist shot to the far post to tie the game from the right circle on his fourth goal of the season.

Winnipeg took advantage of a power play in the third period to regain a 4-3 lead on a goal from Alex Iafallo at 4:03 of the final period.

Kucherov kept the Lightning alive, as the team’s leading scorer scored his 10th goal of the season in a header less than three minutes after Iafallo’s tally. Kucherov caught a Winnipeg fielder with the puck, sending the puck off his stick and into Hellebuyck’s legs to tie the game 4-4.

A Samberg point shot changed direction on a Lightning player in the defensive zone, teetering into the back of the Tampa Bay net for a 5-4 lead with 12:22 to play. Empty-net goals from Nikolaj Ehlers and Cole Perfetti put the finishing touches on the home team’s 7-4 victory.

Lightning coach Jon Cooper said the last few games have been similar. Tampa Bay was tied 1-1 with the Minnesota Wild through two periods Friday before losing 5-3.

“You never want to lose, but you want to base your game on how you play and for the most part we’re playing well. We just made some really tough mistakes. A few faceoffs and one, unfortunately, a really reliable player mishandles a puck, and they end up in our net. When you give up the goals we give up here on the road, it’s hard to win,” Cooper said.

“It’s difficult because it’s kind of been our story lately. …Listen, you can go on winning streaks and make mistakes and they just don’t go in the net,” the coach continued. “And then there are times when you play pretty well and you make a mistake and they always end up in your net. So you kind of feel like we’re kind of in this situation now.

Forward Jake Guentzel also said the Lightning fought back in their last two games, but he said the team needs to push more.

“We knew they were good at racing,” Guentzel said. “They have some high-powered skills on their team, so we just have to defend harder and we just have to realize that you can’t give these teams good chances like that.”

Lightning goaltender Jonas Johansson finished with 27 saves, while Hellebuck earned the win with 26 saves. Johansson is now 1-1-0 this season.

“I thought JJ was really good,” Cernak said. “He made very good saves on several occasions. Obviously it hasn’t been easy for him, but I think overall he’s done a good job.

The Jets remain atop the NHL standings with an 11-1-0 record, while the Lightning drop to 7-5-0.

The Lightning now prepare for the final leg of their four-game road trip, which concludes with a visit to the St. Louis Blues (6-6-0 this season) on Tuesday at 8 p.m.

Benjamin’s three stars:

1. Mark Scheifele, WPG (1 goal, 1 assist)
2. Nikita Kucherov, TBL (1 goal, 1 assist)
3. Vladislav Namestnikov, WPG (1 goal, 1 assist)