The Winnipeg Jets defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1 last night at PPG Paints Arena.
Forward Mark Scheifele had two goals, which was his 156th career multi-point game, which passed Ilya Kovalchuk for second-most in franchise history. Forward Blake Wheeler had a goal and an assist. Nikolaj Ehlers had a goal, which extended his point streak to four games, forward Cole Perfetti had three assists in over 14 minutes of ice time after being a game-time decision due to being sick, and goalie David Rittich made 22 for the Jets, who are now 28-14-1, and have won their last seven of eight games.
Goalie Dustin Tokarski made 36 saves for the Penguins in his first NHL start since April 29th, 2022, when he started for the Buffalo Sabres. The Penguins fell to 21-14-6 and are 2-5-2 in their last nine games. Defenseman Marcus Pettersson was out with an illness, joining defensemen Kris Letang (lower-body) and Jeff Petry (upper-body) as defensemen who missed the game.
At 11:19 into the first period, Wheeler put home a power-play goal to give the Jets a 1-0 lead.
At 15:42, defenseman Neal Pionk thought he made it 2-0 Jets, but it was determined that Scheifele crossed the blue line before the puck, and the play was deemed offside. At 16:42, forward Drew O’Connor would tie the game for the Penguins, tapping home a feed from Kasperi Kapanen on a two-on-one. At 18:15, Pionk thought he gave the Jets a 2-1 lead, but his goal was once again disallowed due to goalie interference.
At 17:58 into the second period, Scheifele would tap home a feed from Wheeler, officially making it 2-1 Jets. Twenty-two seconds later, Ehlers would make it 3-1 Jets.
Over six minutes into the third period, Scheifele would get his second goal to make it 4-1 Jets.
Jets Defenseman Dylan DeMelo got two assists to grab his 100th career point. He has ten goals and 90 assists in his NHL career. Penguins defenseman Mark Friedman had one shot on goal, three hits, and 16:23 minutes of ice time after being recalled from the AHL on Friday.
