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Through two-plus hockey games this season, the Winnipeg Jets forwards have combined for no goals five-on-five.
That changed in a big way Monday night in Pittsburgh when the Jets scored three such goals in the third period of a 3-2 win over the Penguins, improving to 2-0-1 on the young season.
The Penguins got their first power play of the night when Viggo Bjorck was called for the first penalty of his young career. The Jets killed it, allowing the rookie to have a good look to score straight from the box but his shot was tipped over by Sergei Murashov.
Gabriel Vilardi had plenty of chances to get on the board in the opening frame. His first goal came at the back door after a great pass from Isak Rosen, but Murashov managed to save. Vilardi also hit a big shot from the slot after a turnover by the Penguins on their own end.
When all was said and done, the score remained 0-0 after 20 minutes with Winnipeg outscoring Pittsburgh 12-11, including 8-1 in the final 7:30.
Less than a minute into the second half, it was Kyle Connor’s turn to fire a shot that hit the post, seconds before setting up Mark Scheifele for a chance in front of the goal that was cleared by the glove of Murashov, who was making just his fifth NHL start.
A few minutes later, the two teamed up again for another chance when they were free in a two-on-one game. Scheifele fed Connor for a one-time shot but Murashov thwarted it with his blocker.
With 10:33 left in the second quarter, Pittsburgh thought for a moment that they had opened the scoring when Ben Kindel directed a high shot that sailed into the legs of Clay Stevenson, making his first start as a Jet and the sixth of his NHL career.
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The officials quickly shook it off, thinking the puck was aimed at a high stick. But after they reviewed the play for a few minutes, they determined that Kindel’s stick was not over the crossbar when it touched the puck, so Pittsburgh was awarded a goal.
Winnipeg got their first power play appearance with 6:55 left in the period when Blake Lizotte was called for boarding Dylan DeMelo. But after going 4-for-7 in their first two games, they squandered their chances, failing to get a shot on goal.
In the final minute of the period, the Jets hit another blow, with Neal Pionk firing a shot from the point that hit the crossbar and went out of play.
Pittsburgh outscored the Jets 11-8 in the period and carried a 1-0 lead into the third quarter.
But it didn’t take long for Winnipeg to equalize. Alex Iafallo carried the puck across the Pittsburgh blue line and passed it to Rosen to his right. Rosen then had a shot that was stopped by Murashov but Erik Karlsson pushed the rebound right onto Iafallo’s side post for a tap-in with 15:17 remaining in the third quarter.
The goal came after Scott Arniel shuffled the bottom three lines to start the third line, with Morgan Barron moving up to the second line, Rosen and Iafallo joining Adam Lowry on the third line and Brad Lambert sliding down to the fourth line.
The third line came up again with 12:52 remaining in the third. After DeMelo forced a turnover at the point, Lowry won the battle to get the puck off to Iafallo, who took a hard shot on goal and drew a delayed penalty. Murashov lost track of where the rebound was, allowing Lowry to run there and poke it in for his first of the season.
Less than two minutes later, Pena tied things up. A fumble by Bjorck led to Ville Koivunen grabbing the puck out of the air, placing it on the ice and passing it in the corner to Kindel. He spotted a wide open Declan Carlile in the slot, who passed Stevenson with 11:07 remaining.
The game remained tied for nine seconds as the Jets countered on their next attack.
Pittsburgh actually won the draw but misplayed the ball outside their own blue line. Josh Morrissey corrected that, sliding into the Pens zone and sending a cross that Cole Perfetti blasted past Murashov to restore Winnipeg’s lead.
The Jets nearly doubled their lead with less than three minutes remaining when Dylan Samberg’s sharp shot hit the post.
Moments later, Pittsburgh pulled their goalie for an extra skater. It took a while for the Pens to get a shot on goal, and with less than 20 seconds remaining, they had their best shot yet. After Scheifele turned the ball over at the blue line, Evgeni Malkin got a tough shot from the high slot but Stevenson blocked it with his blocking.
Stevenson made 29 saves in the win while Murashov stopped 30 shots in the loss.
Winnipeg will now return home to host the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday night. Puck drop is held just after 6:30 p.m. with an extended pregame show on 680 CJOB starting at 4 p.m.
