WINNIPEG — The Winnipeg Jets handed the Arizona Coyotes their ninth straight loss with a 2-1 win at Canada Life Center on Sunday.
Pierre-Luc Dubois and Blake Wheeler scored for the Jets (29-14-1), who have won eight of their past nine games. Connor Hellebuyck made 20 saves.
“[The Coyotes] are fast and they’re on top of you and they don’t give you a lot of room,” Winnipeg coach Rick Bowness said. “They were trying to hang on and get a goal at the end. … Give them a lot of credit. That’s how they play and they’re hard to play against.”
Video: ARI@WPG: Wheeler caps off passing play with goal
Clayton Keller scored, and Karel Vejmelka made 22 saves for the Coyotes (13-25-5), who were coming off a 2-1 loss at the Minnesota Wild on Saturday.
“I don’t know what to say anymore,” Arizona coach Andre Tourigny said. “We worked really hard. I’m really proud of the guys. It’s back-to-back. Winnipeg is a really, really good team. I think we hold our own. We battled hard.
“It’s tough to generate a volume on [Winnipeg]. They work hard. They play the right way.”
Dubois scored 37 seconds into the second period to give the Jets a 1-0 lead, redirecting a one-timer from Josh Morrissey on a power play.
“Goals are great but there’s a lot of ways you can contribute,” Dubois said. “For myself personally, goals are always fun to score, I’m not going to complain, but I want to be even more than that.
“I think we had ups and downs during the game. Our goal is to always play a 60-minute game. … I thought at times tonight we did a good job, at times tonight we kind of fell off. We want to play really aggressive, but we also want to be on top of teams.”
Video: ARI@WPG: Dubois redirects a shot into the net for PPG
Keller tied it 1-1 at 11:02, cutting across the slot and waiting out Hellebuyck before shooting into an open net. Adam Lowrywho had fallen down.
“I think I’ve had a couple of rushes this year like that where I’ve maybe shot a little too early,” Keller said. “I think that one I just kind of thought back to that in that split second and I was able to make the move around the guy and put it in the net.”
Wheeler put Winnipeg back in front 2-1 at 16:45 of the second, shooting past the lunging glove of Vejmelka from a quick pass off the left circle. Mark Scheifele.
“[Scheifele and Cole Perfetti] made great plays,” Wheeler said. “‘Scheif’ had a bit of a break and it was tough to get it to him, and then just trying to make space for Cole. Those guys made a couple good plays, and it was just up to me to shovel it in.”
NOTES: Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers had the secondary assist on Dubois’ goal to extend his point streak to five games (three goals, six assists). … Morrissey has 40 assists in 44 games this season, the fewest needed to reach the mark by a defenseman in Jets history.
.