WINNIPEG — Mark Scheifele scored two goals for the Winnipeg Jets, who extended their point streak to seven games with a 5-1 win against the Dallas Stars at Canada Life Center on Tuesday.
“We’re not sitting back on our heels, we’re playing on our toes, we’re making it hard on teams to make plays and make continuous passes,” Scheifele said. “That comes with playing fast and having good sticks and trusting your teammates. I think we’ve done a really good job with that.”
Mason Appleton had a goal and two assists, Kyle Connor had three assists, and Connor Hellebuyck made 21 saves for the Jets (8-3-1), who are 6-0-1 during their streak.
“We were good off the rush and good in (the offensive) zone, and I thought we defended the right way tonight, too,” Appleton said of his line with Scheifele and Connor. “I think that can be a focus of our line, because sometimes you get caught offensively and sometimes they get a rush, but I thought we managed the game really well in that aspect tonight.”
Video: DAL@WPG: Connor sets up Scheifele’s second goal
Rick Bowness was coaching against the Stars for the first time since stepping down on May 20. He did not coach in a 4-1 loss at Dallas on Oct. 17 after testing positive for COVID-19.
“You know [Bowness] circles that one on his calendar, especially being at home in Winnipeg for that one,” Scheifele said. “It was a big win for us. We played well. [Hellebuyck] made some big saves when we needed him to, and we capitalized when we needed to. So it was a good game overall. Everyone had a piece of it.”
Jason Robertson scored to extend his goal streak to six games, and Scott Wedgewood made 28 saves for the Stars (8-4-1), who had won three straight.
“Tonight was a tough night,” the Dallas forward said Tyler Seguin said. “We figured they’d come out and be ready after how they played in our rink and obviously having [Bowness] back. They were, and we just didn’t have a response tonight.”
Video: DAL@WPG: Dubois scores in 2nd period
Robertson gave Dallas a 1-0 lead at 3:06 of the second period, scoring blocker side with a wrist shot from the right hash marks. He has 12 points (seven goals, five assists) in his past six games.
Scheifele scored 21 seconds later to tie it 1-1, scoring off a backdoor pass from Appleton at the left post.
Pierre-Luc Dubois put Winnipeg in front 2-1 at 4:37 when he chipped in a backhand shot after Wedgewood misplayed the puck behind the net.
“I thought we had a really poor first period,” Dallas coach Peter DeBoer said. “I thought we kind of regrouped at the beginning of the second, scored the first goal, started to play, and then you know, just some poor decisions and some poor execution for five or six minutes and we lost all of our momentum. The game was essentially over at that point.”
Video: DAL@WPG: Maenalanen deflects shot in for a 4-1 lead
Scheifele made it 3-1 at 6:12. He scored on a tap-in off another backdoor pass, this time from Connor, who carried the puck through the entire zone before finding Scheifele.
Saku Maenalanen scored his first of the season on a deflection Neal Pionk‘s shot to extend it to 4-1 at 18:14, and Appleton shot into an empty net at 17:02 of the third for the 5-1 final.
“They’re starting to realize that we’ve got a good team here, and if we play the right way and we play fast and we pressure them, that first period was a pretty good example of it,” Bowness said. “We had a lot of great opportunities offensively from playing good defense and moving the puck quickly. It’s starting to sink in. There’s always room for improvement. We’ve got a long way to go and still have lots of work ahead of us, but we’re getting there.”
NOTES: Robertson (23 years, 109 days) is the fifth player 23 or younger in Stars/Minnesota North Stars history to have a goal streak of at least six games, joining Neal Broten (seven games in 1981-82). Jamie Benn (six games in 2010-11), Mike Modano (six games in 1991-92) and Danny Grant (six games in 1969-70)… Stars forward Roope Hintz had an assist to extend his point streak to six games (three goals, seven assists). … Dubois has scored in three straight games.
.