Gabe Vilardi Post-game Folks, they have done it again. On Friday night, the Winnipeg Jets picked up a 4-3 victory over the visiting New York Islanders. With the win, Winnipeg found its second winning streak of eight games on the season. The Jets opened the year with eight-straight wins and have now entered the two-week, 4 Nations Cup break on a second eight-game heater. Gabe Vilardi set a new career-high scoring twice in the game, while Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele assisted on both his goals, as Connor Hellebuyck earned his 34th victory of the season, which also served as Winnipeg's 22nd win at home. The Jets actually fell behind rather early, with Simon Holmstrom scoring on a three-on-two rush up ice just 1:05 in. But Alex Iafallo got it right back for Winnipeg just three minutes later. His goal was a spectacular solo effort on a rush up ice, where he fended off two Islanders checkers before putting it up high past Ilya Sorokin. Again, it was the visitors that jumped back ahead at the 12:07 mark, as Marc Gatcomb got his third of the year off a bad bounce behind the net. The shots were even at nines through 20 minutes, but it was in the middle stanza where the Jets really took flight. The Jets' top line combined for two goals, with Vilardi potting both. Not to be outdone, the second line also stepped up with a three-point goal of its own, as Nikolaj Ehlers found his 17th of the season off of a beautiful assist from Cole Perfetti, who got the puck from Vlad Namestnikov. The Jets led 4-2 after 40 minutes and pulled ahead 21-16 on the shot chart. Winnipeg began the third by killing off two Islanders penalties, but ended up giving up a third goal to New York as the period wore on. It was defenceman Alex Romanov's three-shot shift in the middle stages of the third period that helped the Islanders pull to within one goal. Kyle Palmieri jammed home the rebound for his 15th goals of the season with 8:53 remaining. Another penalty to Dylan DeMelo brought on yet another kill from the Jets' top unit, which stayed out for 1:58 of the two minutes. Hellebuyck slammed the door shut, helping drain the seconds off the clock. New York managed 10 shots on goal in just four minutes, pulling ahead 16-4 through the 18-minute mark of the frame. With Sorokin on the bench for the extra attacker, Winnipeg managed to kill off the final two minutes, picking up its league-leading 39th win of the season. Hellebuyck finished the night with 32 stops on the 35 shots he faced, while Sorokin gave up four goals on 27 shots. The Jets will now head off to warm destinations for the next two weeks as the NHL observes the 4 Nations Cup. Connor Hellebuyck, Kyle Connor and Josh Morrissey will each participate, representing their respective countries. Winnipeg will return back to the ice on February 22nd when they take on the St. Louis Blues.
