WINNIPEG — Kyle Connor had a hat trick to help the Winnipeg Jets win their fifth straight game, 7-4 against the Vancouver Canucks at Canada Life Center on Sunday.
Connor’s hat trick was his second of the season and fourth in the NHL. He also extended his point streak to six games (five goals, six assists).
“I thought [our line] were reading off each other really well tonight,” Connor said of Nikolaj Ehlers and Pierre-Luc Dubois. “Obviously, a lot of potential with that line. We also think the same way in a lot of senses coming into the offensive zone. That’s what gives us the ability to read off of each other. A lot of crosses and drops, finding the weak side.
“It’s just a lot of fun right now, and hopefully we just continue to grow. This is [Ehlers’] second game back, and he’s only going to get better, our chemistry is only getting better, and hopefully the sky’s the limit.”
Ehlers had a goal and two assists, and Dubois had four assists to extend his point streak to six games for the Jets (26-13-1). David Rittich made 34 saves.
“[Rittich was] huge in the third,” Winnipeg coach Rick Bowness said. “He looked a lot more comfortable in the third than he did in the first two.”
Video: VAN@WPG: Connor gets 2nd NHL hat trick of season
JT Miller had a goal and two assists for the Canucks (17-19-3), who have lost four of five (1-4-0). Collin Delia allowed four goals on 13 shots before being replaced in the second period by Spencer Martinwho made 11 saves.
“We felt good going into the third,” Miller said. “We had a chance to win. It wasn’t all bad at that point. It just seems like a couple breakdowns here and there seemed to catch us, and I don’t know what else to say, really. They just capitalized on their goals.”
Connor gave the Jets a 1-0 lead at 6:22 of the first period, scoring from the bottom of the right circle off a turnaround pass from Ehlers.
“[Connor and Dubois] are two guys that are pretty easy to play with,” said Ehlers, who was playing in his second game after missing 36 because of sports hernia surgery. “We read off each other as much as possible. I think that’s what makes this line a good line. And then as soon as we have a chance to get the puck, defensively or offensively, we’re going all out.”
Ilya Mikheyev appeared to tie it for Vancouver 31 seconds later, but Bowness challenged the play for an offside, and the call was reversed after a video review.
Connor then made it 2-0 at 7:59, scoring on a breakaway with a shot that beat Delia five-hole.
“They’re one of the best teams in the league right now,” the Canucks defenseman Luke Schenn said. “They’re deep, they’ve got two really good skilled lines up front that have speed and are pretty creative offensively, and like I said, off the rush.”
Miller cut it to 2-1 at 15:14, chipping the puck over Rittich’s pad from inside the crease, and Jack Studnicka tied it 2-2 when he tipped Schenn’s point shot at 17:33.
“It’s hard to play a team like that chance for chance,” Canucks coach Bruce Boudreau said. “We kept coming back. I thought if we would have just tightened up the ship a little bit, we would have had opportunities to win, but it didn’t happen.”
Video: VAN@WPG: Miller jabs in a goal to slim Jets’ lead
Ehlers put the Jets back in front 3-2 at 3:40 of the second period, circling around the net before scoring with a wrist shot from the bottom of the right circle for his first goal of the season.
Morgan Barron extended the lead to 4-2 at 5:34.
“You have to be ready,” Martin said of replacing Delia following Barron’s goal. “We came right back in the game right when I got in there. From that point on it was just disappointing that we couldn’t finish it.”
Horvat cut it to 4-3 at 7:05 with a snap shot from the left face-off dot, and Sheldon Dries tied it 4-4 with a redirection on the power play at 9:26.
“The starts of the periods we got behind and we had to fight to get back,” Boudreau said. “We would have liked to have come out at the start of each period and take it to them rather than let them take it to us.”
Axel Jonsson-Fjallby responded for Winnipeg to make it 5-4, scoring with a wrist shot at 18:17 of the second.
“Actually, I changed [my] tape job for today, changed to white tape,” Jonsson-Fjallby said. “We’ve got to keep going, we can’t relax, which we kind of [did] in both the first and second periods. The starts are great, and then we kind of fall back and let them play, which we can’t do. We’ve got to play the whole game.”
Video: VAN@WPG: Jonsson-Fjallby nets go-ahead goal
Dylan DeMelo pushed it to 6-3 at 5:29 of the third peirod with a short-handed goal after receiving a drop pass from Jonsson-Fjallby.
“The whole bench is yelling, ‘Three,’ like the third guy [DeMelo] is with us,” Jonsson-Fjallby said. “So that’s an assist on them.”
Connor completed his hat trick with his 20th goal of the season at 13:42 of the third for the 7-4 final.
NOTES: Dubois has 10 points (four goals, six assists) during his point streak. … Canucks forward Elias Pettersson had an assist and has 20 points (six goals, 14 assists) in his past 13 games. … The Jets are 23-6-1 in their past 30 games against the Canucks, and 18-1-0 when scoring at least four goals this season. … Connor has 21 points (nine goals, 12 assists) on an 11-game home point streak, one shy of tying Ehlers for the longest in Jets/Atlanta Thrashers history.
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