WINNIPEG 鈥� Mark Scheifele enjoys playing with Kyle Connor and it showed Sunday.
Scheifele had a goal and three assists and Connor scored in overtime for the second straight game to lift the Winnipeg Jets to a 4-3 victory that extended the Arizona Coyotes鈥� losing streak to 12 games.
Connor鈥檚 second goal of the game was a one-timer 33 seconds into the extra frame on a 3-on-1 for Winnipeg after Coyotes defenceman Sean Durzi and forward Nick Schmaltz collided with each other and fell in the other end of the ice.
鈥淗e鈥檚 hitting it well and he鈥檚 going to the right areas,鈥� Scheifele said of Connor. 鈥淗e鈥檚 making a lot of little plays that not a lot of people see. He鈥檚 been fun to play with.鈥�
Gabriel Vilardi recorded one goal and assist for the Jets (36-15-5), who have won three straight and six of their past seven games.
Josh Morrissey contributed three assists and Connor Hellebuyck made 29 saves for Winnipeg in front of 14,324 fans at Canada Life Centre.
Schmaltz scored twice and Matias Maccelli had one goal for the Coyotes (23-29-5), who are 0-10-2 during their skid and began a five-game road trip.
鈥淵ou can see even in our situation where we have a terrible streak, the guys never stop fighting,鈥� Arizona coach Andre Tourigny said.
鈥淭hey never stop working for each other and having the back of each other, so there鈥檚 a lot of positive in that process.鈥�
Connor Ingram stopped 28 shots for Arizona, which hasn鈥檛 defeated the Jets since Nov. 29, 2021.
鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to work our way out of this and it sucks,鈥� Schmaltz said.
鈥淲e get a grade-A look in overtime there, (Durzi) makes a heck of a move and (we) just collide and it鈥檚 tough, 3-on-1 (rush for the Jets), so it鈥檚 frustrating for sure.鈥�
The Jets led 3-1 after the first period, but goals by Maccelli early in the second and Schmaltz 1:04 into the third tied it up.
The teams scored a combined three power-play goals in the first period.
Scheifele opened the scoring at even strength 2:06 into the first, using a puck that had bounced off the end boards to send a backhand past Ingram.
Schmaltz tied it on the power play at 13:45 off a rebound. Connor then recorded his team-leading 22nd goal of the season one minute later with the man advantage. Vilardi made it 3-1 with a power-play goal at 13:34.
Connor has scored in three straight games and extended his point streak to a season-high five games (four goals, six assists).
Jets coach Rick Bowness is liking the trio of Scheifele, Connor and Vilardi on the power play.
鈥淭wo big goals tonight but, as we said all year, get those three guys together and give them a chance to get some chemistry on the power play and it should turn around. It has so far,鈥� he said.
The Jets were 2-for-3 with the man advantage and the Coyotes went 1-for-2.
Maccelli notched his 10th of the season with a redirection to squeeze the score 3-2 at 6:11 of the second.
Coyotes forward Clayton Keller left the game in the second period and didn鈥檛 return because of an upper-body injury. Tourigny had no update.
鈥淥bviously (Keller) is an important player, but the way the guys reacted, they didn鈥檛 lose a beat,鈥� Tourigny said.
鈥淲hen (Keller) went down, we had the momentum and we kept the momentum.鈥�
Schmaltz tied it early in the third after Alex Kerfoot won a puck battle behind Winnipeg鈥檚 net and fed the puck to Schmaltz out front.
BETTMAN COMING TO TOWN
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is visiting Winnipeg to watch Tuesday鈥檚 Jets game against the St. Louis Blues.
He鈥檚 holding a press conference with local media two hours before the game, when he鈥檚 expected to talk about the Jets鈥� decreasing season-ticket numbers and address the club鈥檚 future viability.
Bettman will then go to ice level and talk to fans, as well as answer some of their questions submitted ahead of time.
NOTES
Jets forward Sean Monahan (illness) didn鈥檛 play. 鈥� Morrissey has nine assists in a four-game point streak. 鈥� Winnipeg has won all four games against the Coyotes this season, and 10 consecutive matches.
UP NEXT
Jets: Host the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday.
Coyotes: Visit the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 25, 2024.
Judy Owen, The Canadian Press
