Red Wings snap 7-game skid with 5-1 win over Jets

DETROIT (AP) — Justin Abdelkader and Gustav Nyquist scored in a dominant first period for Detroit, and the Red Wings snapped a seven-game slide with a 5-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night.

Fresh off a 10-1 loss at Montreal on Saturday, the Red Wings outshot Winnipeg 16-3 in the opening period and took a 2-0 lead. They put the game away with three more goals in the third.

Winnipeg, which entered tied for the NHL lead in points, managed only a second-period goal by Patrik Laine on a two-man advantage. The Red Wings answered in the third with goals by Jonathan Ericsson, Darren Helm and David Booth.

Abdelkader opened the scoring, and Detroit had a two-man advantage for 1:55 later in the first. The Jets killed off both penalties, but seconds after the second one expired, Nyquist lifted a rebound past goalie Connor Hellebuyck to make it 2-0.

Laine’s slap shot from the left circle beat goalie Jimmy Howard for his 14th of the season, and Detroit failed to take advantage of another two-man advantage later in the second.

With 15:05 left in the third, Ericsson took a shot that went into the net, with Hellebuyck ending up underneath both Nyquist and Winnipeg defenceman Josh Morrissey. After a long review, officials said Morrissey created the contact and there was no goalie interference.

Not long after that, Winnipeg’s Blake Wheeler carelessly knocked the puck to the middle of the ice in the neutral zone, hitting Helm in stride. The Detroit forward skated in on a breakaway and scored to make it 4-1.

Booth’s goal came on a 3-on-1 break and capped a forgettable night for the Jets, who were coming off a 5-0 win over Ottawa on Sunday in which they had 49 shots.