Kyle Connor and Sam Gagner both collected one goal and one assist to lead the injury-ravaged Winnipeg Jets to a 5-1 road victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday.
Kyle Capobianco, Neal Pionk and Axel Jonsson-Fjallby also scored for the Jets, who received a 22-save performance from goaltender Connor Hellebuyck. Pierre-Luc Dubois collected three assists in Winnipeg’s sixth victory in eight outings, and fifth consecutive on the road.
Bo Horvat replied for the Canucks and goalie Spencer Martin stopped 22 shots.
The Jets came out flying and were rewarded with Connor’s 13th goal of the season before the three-minute mark. Connor rifled a shot from the slot for a power-play goal to extend his point-scoring streak to eight games.
With an assist on the opening tally, Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey netted his ninth helper in an eight-game point streak.
Capobianco, playing his fourth game of the season, doubled the lead with a point-shot marker at 5:30 of the second period, finding the sweet spot with a slew of players in front of the net. Pionk also blasted home a point shot for his fifth goal of the season — a rocket of a one-timer — at 12:08 of the middle frame to make it a 3-0 game.
Gagner extended the edge just 56 seconds into the third period when he buried a one-timer set up by Dubois’ cross-ice feed for his fifth of the season. Jonsson-Fjallby netted his second tally of the season, a top-corner shot on a partial breakaway, 7:59 into the final period.
Hellebuyck’s bid for a shutout was spoiled with just over five minutes remaining when Horvat deflected a point shot for a power-play goal, his 22nd tally of the season.
Earlier in the day, the Jets announced forward Blake Wheeler will miss at least four weeks after taking a deflected shot to the groin area in the previous outing. Also, defenseman Nate Schmidt is expected to be out four-to-six weeks due to a suspected shoulder injury, also suffered in Thursday’s clash with the Nashville Predators.
–Field Level Media
