Vilardi HAS two goals and two assists to lead Jets
The Winnipeg Jets are now on a three-game winning streak and back into the No. 1 spot in the National Hockey League.
On Sunday night – WASAC Night – at Canada Life Centre, the Jets’ big line dominated the Calgary Flames in an impressive 5-2 victory.
The Jets got two goals and two assists from first star Gabriel Vilardi, a goal and two assists from Kyle Connor and a goal and an assist from Mark Scheifele as they controlled the game for most of the evening and got backup netminder Eric Comrie his fourth win of the season. Comrie had gone a franchise-record eight straight games without a win despite playing well as the Jets just couldn’t seem to score when playing in front of him. On Sunday night, all that changed.
And with the win came some pretty impressive numbers:
1. The Jets extended their winning streak to three and moved back into a tie with Washington for first overall in the NHL with a 34-14-3 record.
2. They improved to 20-5-1 at home this season – the best home record in the NHL.
3. They improved to 19-0-2 when leading after the first period and 25-0-1 when leading after the second. They are the last remaining team in the NHL to have yet to lose when leading after an intermission.
4. They held their opponent to fewer than 30 shots for the 12th straight game.
5. They scored five or more goals for the 16th time this season. That leads the NHL and better yet, the Jets are 16-0-0 when they score five or more.
The Jets’ numbers have been very impressive recently, but nobody’s numbers have been better than the Scheifele-Connor-Vilardi line. Connor is now seventh in the NHL in scoring with 27 goals and 63 points. Scheifele is 12th with 28 goals and 56 points and Vilardi has moved up the ladder to 34th with 22 goals and 47 points.
“To be honest, that whole line is pretty good,” said a relieved Eric Comrie. “They score a lot of goals. They know how to score, and they know how to play the game. It’s a pleasure to watch them play. It’s also a lot of fun.”
The Jets opened the scoring at 5:28 of the first period when Connor went flying down the middle of the ice, split the Calgary defence (he nearly broke both of Daniil Miromanov’s ankles) with an incredible move and then beat Flames netminder Dan Vladar with backhanded roof job. It was Connor’s 27th of the season as Vilardi and David Gustafsson drew the assists.
At 10:17 of the second period, Mason Appleton made it 2-0 Winnipeg as he was in the right spot to bang a loose puck past Vladar. It was Appleton’s seventh of the year, and it came unassisted.
Calgary’s MacKenzie Weegar made it close at 15:08 with a blast from the point, but Vilardi scored his first of the night, a power-play tally at 19:09, after taking a great pass from D-man Dylan Samberg. Scheifele also drew an assist as the Jets went to the intermission leading 3-1.
Vilardi scored his second of the night, once again on the power play, at 3:07 of the third period. After taking a nice pass from Connor right near the crease, Vilardi made a quick move in front and then beat Vladar high on the glove side. It was now 4-1 Winnipeg, and the Jets were coasting.
Calgary’s Nazem Kadri made it 4-2 at 4:27, but Scheifele scored his 28th of the year with a blistering wrist shot at 7:08 to put it away. Vilardi and Connor drew the assists.
Vilardi, clearly the best player on the ice, extended his points streak to three games, tied a career-high with four points in a game, is now just one goal shy of his career season-high (23) and fourth in the NHL in power play goals with 11.
The Jets went two-for-two on the power play and are now three-for-three with the man advantage in their last two games. Calgary was one-for-three on the PP. Winnipeg outshot Calgary 27-22 and won 54.2 percent of the faceoffs.
Winnipeg now heads out onto the road to face the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night at the Bell Centre. Game time in Winnipeg is 6 p.m.
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