Connor scores twice and Comrie gets the win as Winnipeg whips Pittsburgh 5-2

Lambert scores his first NHL Goal as the Jets beat the penguins 5-2

For the Winnipeg Jets, it was another near-masterpiece.

Gabriel Vilardi scored just 15 seconds into the game, Brad Lambert scored his first NHL goal and Kyle Connor had the first penalty-shot goal of his career as the Jets started early and never let their collective foot off the proverbial gas.

As a result, the Jets whipped the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2 on Saturday afternoon at Canada Life Centre as Kyle Connor scored twice and Eric Comrie won his second straight start.

With the win, the Jets third in a row, Winnipeg moved into first place in the Western Conference with a 9-3-0 record. Vilardi finished with a goal and an assist while Mark Scheifele added a pair of assists as the Jets big line contributed six points to the victory.

It was another impressive victory for the Jets who were a tad shaky last week at home, losing two-of-three. But after beating the Minnesota Wild 4-3 in overtime in St. Paul to start the week, the Jets demolished the Chicago Blackhawks 6-3 on Thursday night at home and were just as good on Saturday against a Pittsburgh team that was red-hot and is still in first place in the East.

Eric Comrie

“All three of Comrie’s games have been really, really good,” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel. “He’s going to play a lot more games this season and it’s good to see him playing the way he has.”

Vilardi got it all started as the Jets rushed into the Pittsburgh zone to start the game. After Scheifele had a chance to score, Vilardi picked up the puck behind the Penguins net and banked it off goaltender Arturs Silovs skate for his fifth of the season. Josh Morrissey and Scheifele each picked up an assist, their 10th assists each this season.

At 2:43, the Jets made it 2-0 as Brad Lambert took a pass from Parker Ford on the Pittsburgh doorstep and made no mistake to record his first NHL goal. Ford and Cole Koepke picked up the assists as the Jets took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission.

 Lambert's First NHL Goal

At 1:17 of the second period, Vladislav Namestnikov scored his sixth of the campaign as he tipped home a perfect crossing pass from Jonathan Toews. Alex Iafallo also earned an assist while Toews picked up his fifth helper of the young season.

Winnipeg made it 4-0 at 12:13 of the period on a very strange play. Silovs lost the puck behind his own net, Connor picked it up and just as he was going to deposit the puck into the empty net. Silovs threw his stick at the puck and knocked it across the crease and out of harms’ way. That resulted in a penalty shot and Connor made no mistake, deking Silovs out if position and flipping the puck over the sprawling goaltender and into the back of the net. It was Connor’s seventh goal of the year, and the first penalty shot goal of his career.

“I kind of didn’t know what was going on,” said Connor, admitting it was the first time a goaltender had ever thrown a stick at him. “Missing an open net was going through my mind. I actually didn’t know the rule. They were discussing whether it was a goal or a penalty and I didn’t really expect a penalty shot. It’s nice to get another shot at it with the penalty shot.”

Pittsburgh got back into it with 11 seconds to go in the period as Sidney Crosby scored his ninth of the year to make it 4-1 and then, at the 10:27 mark of the third, Blake Lizotte banged home a loose puck in the Jets crease to make it interesting at 4-2 as The Pas’ Connor Dewar picked up an assist.

Winnipeg outshot Pittsburgh 34-30 and outhit the visitors 29-18. Pittsburgh 54.2 per cent of the faceoffs. The Penguins went one-for-two on the power play while the Jets were zero-for-three.

The Jets, who are 4-0-0 away from home this season, will now head out on a six-game road trip that starts Tuesday night in Los Angeles. The Game begins at 9:30 p.m. and can be seen on TSN3.