Jets top line feasts on Blackhawks

The top line of the Winnipeg Jets went trick-or-treating on Thursday night, filling their goodie bags with some sugary-sweet offence.

Gabe Vilardi scored twice and had an assist, while Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor each had a goal and two helpers to lead the way in a 6-3 Halloween Eve victory over the Chicago Blackhawks at Canada Life Centre.

When playing at their best, this talented trio can be a nightmare for opponents. The showed that again in numerous ways, with slick puck movement, precision passing and lethal finishing on full display. You could make a compelling case to include all four goals they were involved with on league-wide highlight reels.

“I thought we played really well. Those two are going to do what they do. They’re unreal to play with,” said Vilardi, who didn’t light the lamp in his first seven games but now has four in his past four. “That’s what is expected of us. We’ve got to keep doing that.”

Scheifele is now up to 18 points (9G, 9A) through 11 games which has him near the very top of the NHL scoring race. Connor (6G, 9A) and Vilardi (4G, 7A) are also putting up big early numbers.

“They were unreal,” said Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey, no slouch himself with a goal and an assist.

“Obviously three very talented guys that all complement each other kind of uniquely and really well. I saw it this morning. I saw Scheif and KC and Gabe. They were buzzing at morning skate, and kind of just knew that KC got that one the other night in overtime (against Minnesota on Tuesday). And goal scorers like that, I feel like they get one and you can’t stop them. So it’s gonna be fun to watch them here going forward.”

The Jets improve to 8-3-0, while the Blackhawks fall to 5-4-2. The visitors came in hot, with just one regulation loss over the past seven games, but ran into a motivated Winnipeg club that put together arguably its most well-rounded effort of the young season.

“That was our most complete game,” said Vilardi. “We did a good job through the neutral zone and kind of limited their speed. Those young guys, they can really turn and burn when you have those turnovers. It was a good game.”

EMOTIONAL GAME: This was no ordinary night at the office for Jonathan Toews. The 37-year-old faced his former team for the first time, triggering plenty of emotions in the process.

“There’s still a connection to the organization and the city of Chicago and I think there always will be. Chicago was my home for a long time and it’s days like this that you get to stop for a second, reflect, look back,” Toews said following the morning skate.

A few hours later he went and had another solid game for the Jets. Toews had a team-high six shots on goal, won 14-of-20 faceoffs and chipped in with an assist on Morrissey’s third-period goal. He is now up to six points through his first 11 games (2G, 4A) while dominating in the dot, trailing only Ottawa Senators centre Tim Stutzle for best winning percentage.

Although his new team got the better of his old team on this night, Toews is happy to see things turning around in the Windy City — the place he spent his first 15 NHL seasons, winning three Stanley Cups — after several tough years languishing near the basement of the standings.

“It is good to see. I think ultimately the fans in Chicago are incredible and it’s nice to see that they have something to cheer for and some great young talent that’s really getting the United Center rocking again,”he said.

HOT START: Vlad Namestnikov spent the majority of last season as Winnipeg’s second-line centre and scored 11 goals in 78 games. So how to explain the fact he’s playing further down the lineup this year, yet already has five goals through his first 11 games?

Namestnikov’s latest came just 102 seconds into Thursday’s game as he finished off a great sequence with Gustav Nyquist and Nino Niederreiter with his team enjoying a very early power play.

It was the first shot of the game and got the Jets rolling.

Namestnikov is unlikely to keep scoring at this pace — his career-high of 22 goals came during the 2017-18 season — but the Jets will certainly take all the offence he can provide.

GHOULISH GOAL: Connor Hellebuyck has had some tough puck luck lately.

On Tuesday night in Minnesota, the Wild scored three times in rather unusual fashion, including one where Hellebuyck accidentally booted the puck into his own net.

The bad bounces continued in this one. Chicago defenceman Connor Murphy fired a shot around the glass into the Winnipeg zone, which Hellebuyck left his net to try and stop. Problem is, the puck hit a seam in the boards and went directly in front of the now wide-open net, where Blackhawks forward Teuvo Teravainen was waiting. He won’t score any easier goals than that.

That tied the game near the midway mark of the opening frame.

It looked like that might be the only goal that would beat Hellebuyck, but Alex Vlasic and Andre Burakovsky — a ridiculous between-the-legs play that ended with a top corner shot — scored just over two minutes apart late in the third period to make this one a bit closer.

He finished with 21 saves on the night.

UNDER THE HOOD: The advanced numbers suggest this game was actually closer than the final score makes it appear.

According to the Natural Stat Trick website, the Jets generated 11 high-danger chances at five-on-five, with the Blackhawks getting 12. It was a different story on the power play, where Winnipeg had six chances (and one goal) to none for Chicago. Overall, the Jets had 3.87 expected goals in all situations, which tells you Blackhawks goaltender Spencer Knight (32 shots, 26 saves) wasn’t at his best. The Blackhawks had 2.84 expected goals, so they essentially got what they deserved in that department.

KEY PLAY: Vilardi’s second goal of the night midway through the second period gave the Jets a comfortable three-goal cushion at the time and ultimately proved to be the game-winner,

THREE STARS:

1. Jets Gabe Vilardi: 2G, 1A

2. Jets Kyle Connor: 1G, 2A

3. Jets Mark Scheifele: 1G, 2A

EXTRA, EXTRA: The Jets did suffer a loss on the night, as Nyquist suffered an injury early in the first period and did not return. He appeared to tweak something off a faceoff, then slowly made his way down the tunnel after skating off the ice.

“He tweaked something there in the corner, so we’ll look at it (Friday) and find out,” said coach Scott Arniel.

A crowd of 13,682 took in the game.

Winnipeg went one-for-three on the power play, while Chicago went zero-for-three.

Forwards Brad Lambert and Nikita Chibrikov and defencemen Colin Miller were the healthy scratches for the Jets, who will close out this quick two-game homestand by hosting the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday afternoon.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X and Bluesky: @mikemcintyrewpg