Nino Niederreiter scored the deciding goal in the first period and Connor Hellebuyck made 35 saves Saturday as the Winnipeg Jets snapped a five-game losing streak, topping the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins 2-1.
It was a rematch from Tuesday when the Penguins won 3-0 at home.
Mark Scheifele also scored for the Jets, who were 0-4-1 during their skid.
Hellebuyck had lost his previous three starts.
Bryan Rust scored for the Penguins, who lost their second straight on back-to-back nights.
Pittsburgh goaltender Tristan Jarry, who had won his previous two starts, made 29 saves. He had been 5-0-0 in his career against the Jets, including back-to-back shutouts.
Penguins forward Jansen Harkins left late in the second period because of an undisclosed injury after he took a hit to his right shoulder area by Jets center Adam Lowry.
Winnipeg played without defenseman Brenden Dillon, who served the second game of a three-game suspension for a hit to the head of Pittsburgh center Noel Acciari on Tuesday. Acciari, diagnosed with a concussion, also was out.
Scheifele gave Winnipeg a 1-0 lead at 10:20 of the first. In the Jets’ end, Nikolaj Ehlers picked off a pass by Pittsburgh’s Jake Guentzel and took off on a two-on-one with Scheifele against Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson. Ehlers got a pass through to Scheifele, who from the left circle beat Jarry short side.
At 15:39 of the first, Niederreiter upped it to 2-0. From the right point, Nate Schmidt ricocheted a pass off the end boards. Niederreiter got to the puck near the right post and swept it in.
With the only goal of the second, the Penguins cut it to 2-1. Karlsson, from along the right-wing boards, sent a pass toward Rust in the lower, inner area of the near circle. Rust, despite being nearly draped by Winnipeg’s Morgan Barron, deflected it high past Hellebuyck.
–Field Level Media
