Pontus Holmberg got a longer leash Tuesday night, and the Lightning forward made the most of it.
With Zemgus Girgensons out, coach Jon Cooper shuffled his lines and moved Holmberg into a top-six spot alongside Brandon Hagel and Anthony Cirelli. The result was Holmberg’s most productive night yet: three assists and a goal for his first career four-point game in Tampa Bay’s 6-4 victory over the Jets.
It was a role change born of necessity, but Holmberg showed why the Lightning have trusted him in the first place. Known as “The Backpack” for the way he shields the puck and carries it through traffic, he did plenty of the heavy lifting again - but he also flashed real playmaking touch when the game opened up.
The win pushed Tampa Bay’s home streak to six straight, matching a franchise mark. The Lightning also won their first six at home in the 2017-18 and 2020-21 seasons.
Tampa Bay came out fast, grabbing the lead on Brayden Point’s goal 2:20 into the game. But the first period never really settled into the Lightning’s favor. The play got messy, Winnipeg answered, and the teams went to the first intermission tied 1-1.
Cooper said he had been uneasy about the extended break before the game. Tampa Bay last played Saturday in Utah, and the team had already dropped games after multi-day layoffs at the Rangers and Avalanche this season.
The second period, though, belonged to the Lightning.
Conor Geekie made it 2-1 at 9:43, scoring for the second straight game after Dominic James created a turnover along the wall and sprung a 2-on-1 rush. Then Holmberg took over in the final 4:04 of the period, piling up three assists as Tampa Bay blew the game open and built a 5-1 lead.
His first helper of the burst came on the power play, where the Lightning extended their man-advantage scoring streak to five games. Playing with the second unit, Holmberg worked the puck below the right circle and slipped a cross-crease feed to Cirelli at the far post.
A few shifts later, Holmberg made another sharp play at 5-on-5. He received the puck at the right circle from Hagel, then sent a cross-slot touch pass to John Carlson for a one-timer from the left circle that made it 4-1 with 1:53 left in the second.
Holmberg wasn’t finished. He forced a turnover in the Winnipeg end and picked up the secondary assist on Hagel’s team-high eighth goal with 57 seconds left in the period.
Winnipeg kept pushing and scored three straight to cut into the lead, but Holmberg put the game away by scoring into an empty net with 1:31 remaining for his fourth goal of the season.
The Lightning’s night was defined by a line shuffle, a home winning streak and one of Holmberg’s best performances. On a night when Tampa Bay needed someone to step into a bigger role, he delivered exactly that.
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