Nils Hoglander snapped an 11-game goal drought by scoring twice and Thatcher Demko kept Winnipeg off the board in the shootout as the host Vancouver Canucks defeated the Jets 4-3 Friday night.
The win kept Vancouver undefeated in three games under new coach Bruce Boudreau, who replaced the fired Travis Green.
Conor Garland also scored, Bo Horvat registered two assists and Elias Pettersson tallied the lone goal in the shootout. Demko made 34 saves, and the Canucks have won five of their last six games.
Winnipeg's Blake Wheeler recorded two assists -- giving him nine in the last five contests -- and his first goal in 22 games this season. However, the Jets' captain appeared to awkwardly buckle his knee during a net scrum with 11:16 left in regulation. Wheeler managed to gingerly skate off, but he had to be helped to the dressing room.
Kyle Connor notched a goal and two assists, and Eric Comrie stopped 33 shots for the Jets, who are 3-1-1 in their last five games.
Vancouver opened the scoring when Hoglander took a pass from Horvat and delivered a backhander over the shoulder of Comrie with 13:31 left in the opening frame.
Less than five minutes later, Wheeler finally got the goal monkey off his back. On the power play, he rang the inside of the far high-post for his first regular-season goal since May 11 -- also against Vancouver.
Wheeler was stymied on a breakaway by Demko late in the period. Then Hoglander struck with 20 seconds remaining in the first on a drive that saw Comrie deflect the puck with his arm, but not enough to keep it from trickling over the goal line.
Just over six minutes into the second period, Wheeler was skating into the slot when he slid a pass over to Connor, who buried the puck for his third goal in two games to tie the score.
However, just 57 seconds later, the Canucks got the lead back on Garland's breakaway.
The Jets managed to level the game again, however, with 8:52 remaining in the second when Connor found a seam that Mark Scheifele one-timed past Demko.
--Field Level Media
Winnipeg | Vancouver | |
Kyle Connor 3 | Points | Nils Hoglander 2 |
Kyle Connor 1 | Goals | Nils Hoglander 2 |
Kyle Connor 2 | Assists | Bo Horvat 2 |
Blake Wheeler 1 | Power Play Goals | N/A |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Eric Comrie .917 | Save Percentage | Thatcher Demko .919 |
Eric Comrie 33 | Saves | Thatcher Demko 34 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Winnipeg | 37 | 3 | 1-3 | 2-2 | 4 | 29 |
Vancouver | 36 | 4 | 0-2 | 2-3 | 6 | 35 |