Kyle Connor scored twice and Gabriel Vilardi added two assists as the Winnipeg Jets won their fourth straight game by posting a 4-1 victory over the host Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night.
Mark Scheifele also had a goal, Rasmus Kupari notched an empty-netter and Connor Hellebuyck stopped 24 shots for the Jets, who overcame an early 1-0 deficit to improve to 15-5-3 since Dec. 10. Winnipeg leads the Western Conference with 73 points this season.
Juraj Slafkovsky scored for Montreal, which has yielded 12 goals during an 0-2-1 rut.
The Canadiens, who outshot Winnipeg 15-7 in the opening period, came out as the aggressors, getting scoring chances off Jets turnovers and second-chance opportunities. Montreal was rewarded with 8:57 remaining in the first when Nick Suzuki sent a pass from behind the Jets’ net to Slafkovsky to successfully one-time by a late-reacting Hellebuyck.
However, that woke up Winnipeg, which stepped up the intensity. And, with 4:24 left before the first intermission, Connor slipped into the crease to send home a loose puck to make it 1-1.
The Jets continued to dictate play in the second period, where they broke the tie and then added to their lead.
First, Vilardi sent a pass from behind the Canadiens’ net into the low slot for Scheifele, who snuck in and scored with 9:16 left in the frame. Then, with five-tenths of a second remaining before the second break, another pass from behind the Montreal net, this time one from David Gustafsson, found a wide-open Connor for a one-timer past Sam Montembeault (20 saves) and a 3-1 edge.
Kupari put the finishing touches on the victory at 18:15 of the third with a backhand shot.
Hellebuyck proved to be stout for most of the evening, making one of his most impressive saves against Suzuki with 12:31 to go in the final period.
–Field Level Media
