Connor, Ehlers lead Jets over Blackhawks

WINNIPEG, Manitoba – Kyle Connor and Nikolaj Ehlers each had a goal and had an assist, and the Winnipeg Jets beat the Chicago Blackhawks 5-1 on Friday night.

Paul Stastny, Neal Pionk and Dominic Toninato also scored in Winnipeg’s fourth straight home win. Andrew Copp assisted on three goals for the Jets, who have posted their best start to a regular season (6-2-2) in the team’s modern era. Eric Comrie stopped 16 shots.

MacKenzie Entwistle scored shorthanded in the third period for Chicago, and Marc-Andre Fleury made 28 saves. The Blackhawks have lost 11 of their first 12 games (1-9-2).

Stastny finished a three-way passing sequence with Copp and Ehlers just 47 seconds after the opening faceoff to get Winnipeg on the scoreboard first.

Pionk beat Fleury with a booming shot from the faceoff dot for a powerplay goal at 2:23.

The Blackhawks thought a powerplay goal had pulled them within a goal early in the second, but Ryan Carpenter’s effort was negated when the Jets successfully challenged for offside on the play. It was the second straight game in which Winnipeg reversed a goal by successfully challenging for offside.

Toninato earned his first deking Fleury on a feed from Copp with 6:12 remaining in the second to make it 3-0.’

Connor gave the Jets a 4-0 lead with 4:43 left in the middle period as he drove the wing and wired a shot by Fleury for a team-leading eighth goal of the season.

Ehlers scored his third of the season late in the third after Entwistle’s shot from a difficult angle surprised Comrie less than a minute into the period.