Third time’s the charm.
The Winnipeg Jets led three separate times on their way to a 3-2 win over the Calgary Flames in front of 14,130 fans at the Canada Life Centre.
Brenden Dillon, Josh Morrissey and Sam Gagner scored for the Jets, who improved to 24-13-1 on the season.
Connor Hellebuyck made 32 saves in the victory, as Calgary outshot Winnipeg 34-25.
The game got off to an uneventful start, with no quality chances until Milan Lucic skated through the Jets defence and shot wide on a breakaway in the final minute of the first period.
Winnipeg opened the scoring at 14:50 of the second period, when Dylan DeMelo’s point shot was tipped in front by Brenden Dillon. Mark Scheifele earned the other assist on Dillon’s first goal of the season.
Calgary tied the game 1-1 in the final minute of the second. Nikita Zadorov took a centering pass and buried it past Hellebuyck at 19:01.
Kyle Connor came close to breaking the deadlock midway through the third period but just missed wide on the short side after a centering pass came from Pierre-Luc Dubois behind the net.
The Jets took a 2-1 lead off a beautifully placed shot by Josh Morrissey. Morrissey pinched in from the point and Kyle Connor found him with a perfect bumper pass from the slot. Pierre-Luc Dubois was credited with the secondary assist.
The helpers extend both Connor and Dubois’s point streak to four – Connor has one goal and five assists during this current run while Dubois has two goals and two assists.
Calgary tied the game 2-2 shortly after when Mikael Backlund slid the puck past Connor Hellebuyck five-hole. Andrew Mangiapane earned the lone helper.
At 14:20 of the third, Sam Gagner gave the Jets their third lead of the game. The veteran forward redirected a Ville Heinola point shot past Jacob Markstrom on Winnipeg’s 21st shot of the night, while Dylan Samberg earned the extra helper.
The Flames pulled Markstrom for an extra attacker late, but Winnipeg shut it down defensively with Adam Lowry punctuating that effort with a kick save shot block in the dying seconds.
The Jets next game is Friday night when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning. Pregame show begins at 5 p.m. on 680 CJOB with the puck dropping just after 7 p.m.
Comments