Winnipeg Jets Rally Past Senators, Scoring 4 Straight Goals In 4-2 Victory

The Jets demonstrated consistent strength, solidifying their position with a third consecutive victory when they defeated the Ottawa Senators with a 4-2 score on Saturday, December 28th at Canada Life Centre. With this loss, the Senators have lost two straight games after a thrilling six-game win streak that began after a 4-2 loss to the New York Islanders on December 8th. Nikolaj Ehlers ignited the offense with a dazzling display, contributing a goal and a pair of assists, while Connor Hellebuyck stood tall in the net, turning aside 33 shots. Winnipeg will host the Nashville Predators on Monday, hopefully keeping this win streak going. The Senators head to Minnesota on Sunday in search of a win against the Wild.

Winnipeg Jets Lineup:

Connor – Scheifele – Vilardi

Perfetti – Namestnikov – Ehlers

Niederreiter – Lowry – Appleton

Barron – Kupari – Iafallo

Morrissey – DeMelo

Pionk – Miller

Stanley – Heinola

Hellebuyck

Comrie

Ottawa Senators Lineup:

Tkachuk – Statuzle – Giroux

Reinhart – Norris – Batherson

Cousins – Pinto – Greig

Gregor – Ostapchuk – Gaudette

Sanderson – Hamonic

Chabot – Jensen

Kleven – Bernard-Docker

Sogaard

Merilainen

Tim Stutzle opened the scoring with 9:20 on the clock in the first period to pick up his 12th goal of the season and get the Senators ahead 1-0. He scored a power-play goal on a cross-slot setup by Drake Batherson, who took a pass from Brady Tkachuk, who was just below the left circle.

Putting Ottawa in a 2-0 lead early into the second period, Ridly Greig struck right off the face-off at 15:57 when he tipped in a point shot from Thomas Chabot on the power play. Kyle Connor cut it to 2-1 a bit later on in the middle frame with 7:14 on the clock at the high slot on a quick shot after Mark Scheifele had circled behind the net, finding Connor for the first Winnipeg goal of the night. This had been Connor’s 22nd goal of the season. With 4:59 left to play, Scheifele found the back of the net and went on a breakaway with a move to the backhand to knot the game 2-2.

Gabriel Vilardi scored the go-ahead goal to untie the knot with a goal on the power play at 10:14 of the third frame, giving the Jets their first lead of the night 3-2. He took a one-touch pass from Nikolaj Ehlers, who received a pass from Kyle Connor after both Connor and Josh Morrissey had passed back and forth a few times. Just 1:32 after the go-ahead goal, Ehlers pushed it to 4-2 when he scored on a wrister that beat Mads Sogaard under his blocker with 8:42 remaining in the third period after taking a pass from Logan Stanley and cut to the middle on the rush.

Nikolaj Ehlers on the game, Mark Scheifele’s two plays, Gabriel Vilardi, and the power play: “We got after them. I think we started well, and they kind of took over in the first period. From then on, I think we deserved to win this game tonight. We played well. …He does that pretty often, so it’s not a surprise to us in this room. I’d say he knows how to bury those pucks in the back of the net,” -“He’s showed that in the time that he’s been here that he’s pretty good net front. You learn from every single player that you play with and play against. I think our power play when we play it the right way and when we play it fast, get pucks to the net and get some chaos going – that’s when we’re at our best. When we work around it slowly, it’s not very good. So, you try to get as many pucks to the net as possible. I think with the skill that we have on both our power plays, things will open up once you get that chaos going.”

Notes:

– Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele scored a goal and picked up an assist. …Connor has 13 points during a six-game point streak; six goals and seven assists. Scheifele has 10 points in his past five; six goals and four assists. In December, Scheifele’s 10 goals are tied with Zach Hyman for the most among all players.

– The Jets have won three games straight and they have points in seven of eight (6-1-1)… This is the third multi-goal comeback of the season from the Jets, and only both the Seattle Kraken (five) and Vegas Golden Knights (four) have one or more so far.

– Mads Sogaard made a total of 19 saves for Ottawa.

– Claude Giroux picked up his 400th NHL career power-play point with his assist on Ridly Greig’s goal.

– Tim Stutzle became the first Ottawa Senators player since Matt Duchene to reach 40 points in 35 or fewer games in a season. Stutzle has 12 goals and 28 assists in 34 games. Previously, Duchene got up to 40 points in 35 games during the 2018-19 season.