Jets jump on Penguins early
Blake Wheeler scored three of Winnipeg’s five first-period goals and the host Jets routed Pittsburgh 7-1 on Sunday night.
Winnipeg scored three times in a span of 34 seconds late in the first to break it open against the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Penguins, who also lost in Minnesota on Saturday.
“It’s all about getting two points. I think we’ve got every guy pushing in that direction,” Wheeler said. “We were fortunate to get the day off yesterday. It’s tough when you’re playing a back-to-back and the back end of a threein-four, it takes a little bit of time to get going and luckily we had our legs early.”
Brendan Lemieux scored his first career goal for Winnipeg on a slap shot from the point at 12:20 of the third. The son of Claude Lemieux made his NHL debut Oct. 20.
“It feels great,” Lemieux said. “Every day I’m up here has been a blessing and I’m just trying to run with it.”
Andrew Copp, Joel Armia and Mark Scheifele also scored for the Jets, who chased Pittsburgh goalie Matt Murray early. Connor Hellebuyck made 31 saves.
“It’s disappointing,” Pittsburgh head coach Mike Sullivan said. “We talk about doing the right things. We talk about managing the puck the right way. We talk about staying on the right side of people, and then we go out and our actions are just the opposite.” Ducks scored to lift visiting 4, the Hurricanes only Anaheim. goal in 3: the The Corey shootout Ducks’ Perry Jakob less than Silfverberg five minutes tied it remaining with just in the third period. Anaheim captain Ryan Getzlaf did not play the final two periods because of what the team termed an upper-body injury. He was hit in the face by a shot early in the first, then played six more shifts before being shut down. Flames 2, Capitals 1: Sean Monahan scored midway through the third period to snap a 1-1 tie and Mike Smith stopped 30 shots as Calgary snapped a four-game home losing streak.