The Maple Leafs put an end to the Jets’ season-opening winning streak, the streak ending with eight straight victories. Toronto secured a 6-4 win against the Jets at the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg on Monday, October 28th. John Tavares scored a hat trick and William Nylander picked up three points (one goal, two assists) to help the Leafs defeat the Jets. Kyle Connor scored twice, and both Mark Scheifele and Gabriel Vilardi also scored for Winnipeg. It was a great win for Toronto after they have been stuck in a three-game losing streak after a 5-2 victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning on October 21st. The Jets head out on the road to Detroit to play against the Red Wings, and the Maple Leafs head home to take on the Seattle Kraken on Thursday.
Toronto Maple Leafs Lineup:
Knies – Matthews – Marner
Pacioretty – Tavares – Nylander
McMann – Domi – Holmberg
Lorentz – Kampf – Reaves
Rielly – Ekman-Larsson
McCabe – Tanev
Benoit – Timmins
Stolarz
Woll
Winnipeg Jets Lineup:
Connor – Scheifele – Vilardi
Perfetti – Namestnikov – Ehlers
Niederreiter – Lowry – Appleton
Barron – Kupari – Iafallo
Morrissey – DeMelo
Samberg – Pionk
Stanley – Miller
Hellebuyck
Comrie
John Tavares got things started at 8:04 of the opening frame after Mitch Marner had the puck in the corner, sending it out and it deflected around… soon getting to Tavares, who tapped it in when Max Pacioretty slid it across the crease on a one-handed backhand. Right off the face-off, the Leafs sent the puck into Winnipeg’s zone… the puck got up behind the net, Tavares went after it, and Pacioretty got ahold of it and sent the puck to William Nylander, who put a snap shot from the slot past Connor Hellebuyck for a 2-0 lead at 2:13 of the first period.
Just 56 seconds into the second period, Matthew Knies pushed it to 3-0. Auston Matthews had the puck, making the initial shot from the left side of the net, and then Knies found the rebound of Matthews’ shot and put it into an open net. Morgan Rielly gave Toronto a 4-0 lead with 16:35 on the clock when William Nylander got the puck, sending a no-look backhand pass to Rielly, who fired a wrist shot from the slot. At 13:41, Kyle Connor scored the first goal for the Jets when he took a pass from Mark Scheifele, and Connor put a snap shot past Anthony Stolarz from below the left face-off dot on the power play. On the power play, Connor struck again at 8:35 of the middle frame to cut it to 4-2. He scored on a one-timer from above the right face-off dot. With 2:07 remaining in the second, John Tavares pushed it to 5-2 after a shot from Oliver Ekman-Larsson came back off the end boards… Tavares batted in the loose puck at the left post.
Mark Scheifele cut it to 5-3 at 12:24 of the third when Kyle Connor, who waited by the wall holding the puck found Scheifele, sending a cross-ice pass over to him. Scheifele scored on a one-timer from the right circle while Connor Hellebuyck had been on the bench for an extra attacker during a delayed penalty. What appeared to be scored by Connor at 3:47, Gabriel Vilardi had actually cut it to 5-4 when he tipped in Connor’s shot for a fourth Jets goal… John Tavares completed his hat trick when he struck Winnipeg’s empty net with just 25 seconds remaining in regulation for a 6-4 final.
John Tavares on the 6-4 win, what he liked about the Leafs’ game, and his line (Pacioretty and Nylander): “I liked our pace with our feet, with the puck, without the puck, and the way we move the puck as well, you know, getting on the forecheck recovering pucks. Then we were able to use the open parts of the ice, get into the interior, make it difficult on their goalie, and drew some penalties early. So, I just really liked the energy and pace of our game today,” – “Max, obviously, an all-star caliber player has had a great career. He really knows his game and how he can impact… We talk a lot and get a really good feel for each other, and how we play the game, the experience that we have… With Willie on our wing tonight, knowing we got one of the best wingers in the world – just his ability to make players, just keeping the game simple, letting our instincts kind of come out, reading off one another, and knowing that we got to do a good job without the puck as well.”
Josh Morrissey on what he makes of the loss, the Jets’ start, and the Maple Leafs: “It was a tough game for us. Got behind it, 4-0 there with almost two periods of play. It felt like we did a good job of battling back, making it 4-2, started to get our legs going, and then obviously, letting another one in, but we never quit throughout the night – We’ll look at what we need to get better at, get some rest, and move on,” – “All the things that happen when you have a slow start – don’t move the puck well, not executing our game plan with and without the puck. They’re a fast team, they’re trying to find their footing, and obviously, they got some elite players. They just came out of Boston, so that’s always a tough game, and preps you, I always find, for your next one… they came out ready to go and we weren’t there. So, we got to find a way to be better to start coming off a road trip, especially coming back from the West Coast. I’ve been in the league long enough that sometimes first periods are not always the cleanest, but we need to find a way to be better than we were there.”
Game Notes:
– Max Pacioretty recorded three assists, and Anthony Stolarz made a total of 19 saves for Toronto.
– Morgan Rielly scored his 83rd NHL career goal, moving into a tie with Tomas Kaberle and Bryan McCabe for fifth on the Maple Leafs’ all-time list among defensemen.
-The Maple Leafs have won all of their past six games against the Jets dating back to March 31st, 2022… This matches their longest active streak against a single opponent – Dallas Stars.
– Kyle Connor picked up three points: two goals and one assist… Josh Morrissey had three assists, and Connor Hellebuyck made a total of 30 saves for Winnipeg.
– Kyle Connor has 14 points during his season-opening point streak through nine games (eight goals, six assists).
– The Jets’ 16-straight regular-season victories dating back to 2023-24 are second only to the Pittsburgh Penguins (17 in 1992-93) for the most consecutive wins in NHL history (single season or otherwise…).
