NHL: Kyle Connor eclipses 500-point plateau as Jets crush Red Wings

Date:

Share post:


Kyle Connor notched three first-period points while surpassing the 500-point mark for his career as the visiting Winnipeg Jets recovered from their first loss by downing the Detroit Red Wings 6-2 on Wednesday.

Neal Pionk scored twice, Gabriel Vilardi had a goal and an assist and Nino Niederreiter and Colin Miller also scored for the Jets. Winnipeg had its 16-game regular-season win streak dating back to last season snapped in a 6-4 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday.

Connor Hellebuyck made 19 saves for the visitors.

Dylan Larkin and Alex DeBrincat had power-play goals for Detroit, which has lost three straight (0-2-1). Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider added two assists apiece, while Alex Lyon stopped 23 shots.

Connor entered the game with 499 points and needed just 2:48 to reach his milestone. He passed the puck across the slot to Vilardi, who beat Lyon on the glove side to open the scoring.

Winnipeg made it 2-0 at 4:02 of the period. Connor took a shot that fluttered through traffic. Lyon made a pad save, but Pionk jumped on the rebound to notch his first goal of the game.

Connor scored his ninth goal of the season with 4:16 remaining in the period. He started the play from his own zone, skating to center ice and dishing the puck to Vilardi. Connor skated past Seider as Vilardi returned the puck to him. His backhander beat Lyon for a 3-0 lead and extended his point streak to 10 games.

The Red Wings broke through at 8:13 of the second period on a power play. With Dylan Samberg in the penalty box for interference, Larkin fired a shot from just outside the left circle past Hellebuyck.

Detroit pulled within one after Pionk was penalized for hooking. Raymond took a shot from the edge of the left circle and DeBrincat tipped it in for his fifth goal this season.

Winnipeg got some breathing room 10 seconds in the third. Detroit defenseman Jeff Petry lost the puck in his own zone. Niederreiter swatted at the puck and it deflected off the skate of Red Wings defender Ben Chiarot and into the net.

Pionk later scored on a power play at 7:19, and Miller added Winnipeg’s sixth goal midway through the period.

–Field Level Media

spot_img

Related articles

NHL: Sharks look to deny Sabres’ bid for sweep of California foes

The San Jose Sharks admittedly are in the early stage of their rebuild and quite a ways removed...

NHL: Penguins meet Utah HC in matchup of struggling teams

The slumping Pittsburgh Penguins will look to take the first step toward reversing their fortunes on Saturday night...

NHL: Predators face Jets, look to overcome ‘frustrations’

The poor start by the Nashville Predators this season boiled over during practice before their matchup against the...

NHL: Jiri Kulich lifts Sabres to overtime win against Ducks

Jiri Kulich scored in overtime to give the visiting Buffalo Sabres a 3-2 come-from-behind win against the Anaheim...

FREE

Get the most important breaking news and analyses for Free.

Thank you for subscribing

Something went wrong.