Josh Morrissey Post-game The Winnipeg Jets have improved to 23-9-1 thanks to a strong showing from its power play and top forward line against one of the league's worst clubs on Tuesday night. Opening a back-to-back in California against the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday, the Jets came out firing early, fell asleep midway through the game, but woke up just in time to avoid an embarrassing result. Save for the trio of Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele and Gabe Vilardi (which had 12 shots on goal and 24 shot attempts at five on five play) the rest of Winnipeg's players appeared to be suffering from some serious jet lag over the better part of the night. A late game-tying, power play marker from Connor and a last-minute winner from Adam Lowry proved to be the difference, as the Jets held on for a 4-3 win over the Sharks on Tuesday. Connor scored his 18th of the season off a strong rush up-ice by his mates Scheifele and Vilardi, who each picked up a point on Connor's backhand tally. But it was former Jets forward Tyler Toffoli, who tied things up, beating Connor Hellebuyck cleanly for his fourth goal in his past seven games. San Jose turned up the temperature in the second period, outshooting Winnipeg 8-0 through 12 minutes of play. But with the Jets on a mid-period power play, the team's top unit struck, taking back the lead. It was Scheifele, who scored on his team's first shot of the period, finishing off a sensational passing play from Connor and Cole Perfetti. Colin Miller found himself in the box as the period wore on, and Hobey Baker Award winner Macklin Celebrini made him pay, scoring another goal that found its way through Hellebuyck cleanly. Celbrini's backhand trickled through a Dylan DeMelo self-screen eluding Hellebuyck's vision. Playing in its second of three-straight games against teams within the league's bottom-six, Winnipeg fell behind 3-2 in the third period on a strong wrist shot on a two-on-one from Fabian Zetterlund. It took another Sharks' penalty for Winnipeg to strike again. And who other than Kyle Connor? His second of the game and 19th of the season knotted things up at threes with just eight minutes to play. Finally, a different set of goal scorers emerged, as Dylan DeMelo's point shot was redirected by captain Adam Lowry, who potted the winner on the tip past Alexandar Georgiev with just 1:13 remaining in the third period. The win improved Winnipeg's record to 5-1-1 in its last seven games and 23-9-1 overall, while Hellebuyck became the first goaltender league-wide to reach the 20-win threshold. He turned aside 32 of the 35 pucks he faced in the game. Next up is another late-night affair with the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday night. That game can also be viewed live on TSN.
