Gabriel Vilardi scored two goals and matched a career high with four points to pace the host Winnipeg Jets to a 5-2 victory over the Calgary Flames on Sunday.
Kyle Connor scored once in a three-point outing, while Mark Scheifele netted one goal and an assist and Mason Appleton added a goal for the Western Conference-leading Jets, who have won three straight games and are on a 7-2-1 run.
Goaltender Eric Comrie made 20 saves. He won for the first time in nine starts, earning his first victory since Nov. 1.
Winnipeg is tied with Washington for top spot in the league standings, although the Capitals have played two fewer games.
MacKenzie Weegar and Nazem Kadri replied for the Flames, who saw their three-game winning streak snapped but remained in the Western Conference’s second wild-card position.
Goalie Dan Vladar stopped 22 shots.
The Jets had all of the early momentum and were rewarded when Connor opened the scoring at the 5:28 mark with a highlight-reel goal coming after he zipped through the defense and lifted a shot.
The Flames were held without a shot on goal for more than 10 minutes to start the clash, and it went from bad to worse for them when Appleton doubled the lead at 10:17 of the second period when he buried a loose puck after Vladar stopped the point shot.
Weegar gave the visitors a much-needed jolt when he put them on the board on a power play at 15:08 of the second period, unloading a one-timer from the point that found the mark.
However, Vilardi restored Winnipeg’s two-goal edge with 50.4 seconds remaining in the middle frame when he was fed a drop pass, drove down the right side and whipped a shot off the far post and into the cage.
Vilardi’s second of the game, a power-play goal he tallied from the doorstep, extended Winnipeg’s lead at 3:07 of the final frame. The Jets have the league’s best power play and the Flames have the worst road penalty kill.
Kadri’s goal 80 seconds later inched Calgary a bit closer, but Scheifele added another man-advantage marker, a perfect shot from the slot, at 7:08 to round out the scoring.
–Field Level Media
