The Winnipeg Jets have recorded a win for the first time in four tries.
The Winnipeg Jets snuck past Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks 3-1 on Saturday afternoon.
Receiving goals from Mark Scheifele, Morgan Barron and Cole Perfetti, the Jets snapped their three-game losing streak, with a narrow decision over the visiting Blackhawks in a fun-filled matinee affair.
Those eagerly anticipating Connor Bedard’s NHL debut at Canada Life Centre did not have to wait long for the 2023 first overall pick to strike.
The rookie phenom opened the scoring just 4:39 into the contest, hammering home his 11th of the year in the early stages.
“He’s impressive," Barron said of the youngster. "You can see that he has the confidence that a kid like that needs to come into the league and be effective. He held onto the puck and made a lot of good plays."
He began the play in the offensive zone, picking off a Dylan Samberg pass, before slipping the puck to Philipp Kurashev. He got it back and one-timed it past a sliding Connor Hellebuyck. Both Bedard’s goal and the resulting public address announcement resulted in a pretty serious cheer from the Hawks’ faithful in attendance.
But that was about it for Chicago.
With Connor Murphy in the box for interference, Winnipeg needed just over 30 seconds of power play time to knot things up at ones.
Playing in his second contest since returning from an 18-game injury absence, Gabriel Vilardi put on a show as he led the rush into the Blackhawks’ zone. He dangled his way through a Chicago defender before slipping the puck to Mark Scheifele.
The team’s 2022-23 goal scoring leader fired home his eighth of the season, tying the game with his fourth power play goal of the season.
The Jets led the Hawks 6-5 on the shot chart through 20 minutes.
Winnipeg got things going rather early in the middle stanza, as Morgan Barron found the twine on the date of his 25th birthday.
Nikolaj Ehlers hit him perfectly in stride with a stretch pass, to which Barron ripped his fourth of the year through Soderblom, giving the Jets a 2-1 lead.
“Nikky made a beautiful pass," Barron said of the goal. "It was hard enough pass to keep me onside and it obviously got through the defencemen. I felt as though the goalie was challenging me, so usually when they are a little bit out of the net I try to find some space five-hole. I actually didn’t think it went in at first but it did.”
Winnipeg dominated the frame, with multiple quality looks, but Soderblom and a goal post stood in the way for the Jets. After Josh Morrissey rattled a shot off the iron in the opening frame, Kyle Connor hit the post in the second. Winnipeg remained up 17-11 on the shot chart through 40 minutes of play.
Cole Perfetti got his ninth of the season on a perfect net-front redirection off a Dylan Samberg shot with 9:54 remaining in the third. Declan Chisholm picked up the secondary assist on the play.
“Just a huge accomplishment; I’m just so happy," Chisholm said of his first point. "It was a nice shot by Sammy. I’m glad he could help me out by getting that point. And a tip by Fetts, too. And two of my buddies, too, that’s I’ve played with on the Moose starting here when I came to Winnipeg. So it’s pretty cool.”
That goal gave Winnipeg exactly the insurance it needed, as the home team buckled down and closed out the Blackhawks over the final nine minutes of play, snapping its three-game skid in the process.
Hellebuyck turned aside 20 of Chicago's 21 shots on goal, while Arvid Soderblom made 25 stops on Winnipeg's 28 shots sent his way.
The Jets next host the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday night in the final test of a four-game homestand. The game features a 6:30 PM central start time, and can be viewed live on Sportsnet.
