Jets continue winning ways at home over Capitals
WINNIPEG Defenceman Ben Chiarot scored with 7:09 left in the third period to lift the Winnipeg Jets to a 3-1 victory over the Washington Capitals on Wednesday.
Chiarot’s shot beat Pheonix Copley on the glove side and may have ticked off a Washington player’s stick.
Mark Scheifele scored on the power play for Winnipeg (11-5-1), while Kyle Connor put in an empty-netter with a minute left to seal the victory.
Blake Wheeler picked up an assist, extending his point streak to 11 games (two goals, 18 assists).
Jakub Vrana had Washington’s (8-9-3) goal as Copley stopped 21 shots.
Connor Hellebuyck made 27 saves for the Jets, who’ve won three straight in their four-game homestand.
Washington was coming off a 52 win over Minnesota on Tuesday in their first of a four-game road trip.
Copley was in net for that win and had to quickly get ready for the Winnipeg game because starter Braden Holtby was a late-day scratch with an undisclosed upperbody injury.
University of Manitoba women’s goalie coach Gavin McHale, 31, was tapped to be Washington’s emergency backup netminder.
It took the Jets almost 13 minutes to get their first shot on goal, but about a dozen seconds later Vrana used his team’s eighth shot to fire the puck high past Hellebuyck for the 1-0 lead at 13:00 of the opening period.
Scheifele scored on the power play at 5:05 of the second period, seven seconds after Alex Ovechkin went to the penalty box for interference.
BLACKHAWKS 1, BLUES 0
CHICAGO — Jeremy Colliton got his first win as an NHL coach when Corey Crawford made 28 saves to help the Chicago Blackhawks beat the St. Louis Blues, stopping an eight-game losing streak.
Chicago’s slide began with a 7-3 loss at St. Louis on Oct. 27, and Colliton took over after Joel Quenneville was fired on Nov. 6. The Blackhawks then dropped his first three games behind the bench before shutting down the Blues in the opener of a three-game homestand.
It was Crawford’s first shutout in more than a year and No. 24 for his career. He missed most of last year and the start of this season because of a concussion.
Chicago got the game’s only goal when it caught a break after St. Louis star Vladimir Tarasenko was penalized for hooking in the second period. Jonathan Toews set up Brent Seabrook for an open look that was stopped by Jake Allen, but Blues defenceman Jay Bouwmeester kicked it into the net at 4:05.