Three-point nights from Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor helped the Winnipeg Jets cruise to an 8-1 win over the visiting Boston Bruins on Tuesday.
Scheifele (two goals, one assist) scored in each of the first two periods for his 46th career multi-goal game, tying Ilya Kovalchuk for the most in team history. The Jets built a 3-0 lead before rattling off a five-goal third, including three goals in 7:19 and two in a later 10-second span.
Connor had two assists and opened the late spurt with a goal, while Gabriel Vilardi and Nikita Chibrikov each added a goal and a helper.
Alex Iafallo, Vladislav Namestnikov, Mason Appleton each scored, and Neal Pionk had a pair of assists for the Jets, who went 3-for-6 on the power play en route to their third win in four games.
Connor Hellebuyck earned his league-leading 18th victory with 23 saves, including eight in the opening period.
David Pastrnak scored and Jeremy Swayman (27 saves) took the loss for Boston, which had won four straight before starting this five-game road trip.
A four-minute power play helped Winnipeg draw first blood at 12:09 of the first. Pionk’s drive sailed wide, but the puck caromed off the end wall, off Nino Niederreiter and across the crease to Namestnikov for the tap-in.
The Jets finished the opening frame with a two-goal lead after a turnover allowed Scheifele to drive down the slot and snap home a saucer feed from Connor with 1:59 remaining.
After Hellebuyck saved Nikita Zadorov’s wrist shot, the Jets transitioned and earned a 3-0 cushion. Josh Morrissey drove down the right wing to set up Scheifele for a one-time goal during an abbreviated man advantage at 7:02.
Pastrnak scored his first power-play goal since Oct. 26 to bring the Bruins within 3-1 at 9:13. Charlie McAvoy set up Pastrnak with a feed into the left circle, where the star winger beat Hellebuyck to the far side.
Connor needed only 1:15 of third-period time to increase the Winnipeg lead, taking advantage of a failed clearing attempt and scoring off Scheifele’s centering pass.
Making it 5-1 at 5:33, Connor dished to Vilardi, who completed a developing three-on-two rush with a wrister from the right side.
Winnipeg’s final power-play tally came at 7:19. Iafallo tipped in another Pionk rip from the point.
For the late two goals, Appleton banked in a no-angle goal at the 16:16 mark, and Chibrikov punctuated his NHL debut with a turnaround shot from the left dot.
–Field Level Media
