VILARDI SCORED TWICE AND CONNOR NOTCHED THE ONLY SHOOTOUT GOAL
It took a shootout goal by Kyle Connor and the brilliance of Eric Comrie between the pipes, but the Winnipeg Jets have now won a franchise-high nine straight games.
Saturday night in St. Louis, Gabriel Vilardi scored with 28 seconds left in regulation time, his second goal of the game, and then Connor scored the only goal of the shootout as the Jets beat the Blues 4-3.
With the win, the Jets numbers during this remarkable 2024-25 season became even more eye-popping.
1. The Jets became the first team in the NHL to win 40 games and remain in first place overall in the NHL with a record of 40-14-3.
2. The Jets lead the Western Conference by nine points over the Dallas Stars.
3. The Jets are first in the NHL in goals for with 206 and best in the league in goals allowed with just 137 – two fewer than the L.A. Kings who have played three fewer games.
4. The Jets improved to 31-0-1 when leading after the second period and are still the last remaining team in the NHL that has yet to lose when leading after any intermission.
5. The Jets are 9-1-0 in their last 10 and 12-2-0 in their last 14. They have not lost since Jan. 20, more than five weeks ago.
On Saturday night, Nikolaj Ehlers scored his 18th goal of the season to open the scoring and then Vilardi scored his 25th and 26th and now has a good chance to give the Jets three 30-goal scorers this season.
However, it was Vilardi’s incredible top-in in the final minute, shortly after the Blues had taken the lead on a power-play goal thanks to a ridiculous four-minute penalty (with 4:28 left in regulation time) against Neal Pionk in a game in which referees Kyle Rehman and Corey Syvret (again) did everything they possibly could to keep the Blues out of the penalty box. In fact, in the end, St. Louis was one-for-four on the power play while the Jets were zero-for-two.
“I really liked our effort,” Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel told reporters in St. Louis after the game. “We knew St. Louis was in a hunt themselves. I liked the way we came out. It was a great first period and we did a lot of the right things. Even the start of the second.
“I just mentioned to the team that was a game where a lot of different things went on and it’s those games late in the year that you need to get the two points, find a way to win. It might be a playoff game, same type of thing. We were down and found a way to come back. I’m just happy we came out on the right side of it.”
Eric Comrie, who was sensational in the shootout, made 21 saves to get the win. The Jets played without Team Canada D-man Josh Morrissey who was still suffering from the illness that kept him out the championship game of the Four Nations Face-Off. Winnipegger Joel Hofer was the Blues’ hard-luck loser in goal.
Cole Perfetti had two assists for Winnipeg while Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele also dished out assists. Connor is now sixth in NHL scoring with 30 goals and 70 points while Scheifele is 12th on the list with 31 goals and 64 points. Vilardi moved up to 35th spot with 26 goals and 53 points.
The first-place Jets returned home to Winnipeg right after the game and will face the San Jose Sharks at Canada Life Centre on Monday night. Game time is 6:30 p.m.
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