After six periods of regulation play where they only scored once, the Winnipeg Jets proved you can’t keep a good offence down for long.
The Jets (14-7-1) got on the scoreboard first – and goaltender Laurent Brossoit ensured his team stayed in control all night – leading to a 5-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks (9-15-2).
Mason Appleton opened the scoring on a drive to the blue paint – banging home a rebound kicked out by Canucks goaltender Braden Holtby.
It’s Appleton’s sixth goal of the season, setting a new career high just 22 games into the shortened 2021 campaign.
The tally also stopped the Jets’ season-long scoreless streak at 65:19, but the 1-0 lead was short lived.
The Canucks’ puck luck – partially to credit for three deflected first-period goals on Monday – was still alive in this game.
That was made apparent when Elias Pettersson tied the game 8:34 into the first frame – his wrist shot hitting the crossbar, then Brossoit’s backside before crossing the goal line.
Just as the teams looked prepared to skate off the ice tied at one – Mathieu Perreault jumped on a Canucks turnover at their own blue line, beating Holtby with 2.6 seconds left in the period for his fourth of the year.
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The second period started with the same energy the first period finished with.
After Appleton drew a penalty with a similar drive to the net that earned the game’s first goal, Kyle Connor buried a slick pass from Blake Wheeler to extend the hosts’ lead at 5:04.
The visitors earned their retribution for Perreault’s goal with a late tally of their own – J.T. Miller finding the net with less than five seconds until the second intermission.
The Jets ended the first two periods up 3-2 in goals, but had already equaled Monday’s shot total with 27.
Paul Stastny restored the Jets’ two-goal advantage halfway through the third period, beating Holtby after a flurry of chances at the top of the crease.
After Brossoit made a couple of big saves, Wheeler finished the game with an empty-netter.
The captain has now put a stretch of three points in eight games behind him with a trio of three-point nights in the Jets’ last five contests.
Brossoit picked up where he left off against the team from his home province – stopping 30 of 32 shots.
The Jets backup now owns a career .971 save percentage against the Canucks in five appearances.
At the other end, Holtby finished with 34 saves on 38 shots for a .895 clip.
After exiting Winnipeg’s win against Vancouver Feb. 21 with an upper-body injury and missing the next three games, defenseman Tucker Poolman logged 17:36 of ice time and a plus-1 rating.
With the win, the Jets finished up a four-game homestand. The club will now play 14 games in 27 nights, 12 of them on the road.
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That stretch begins Thursday night in Montreal when they face the Canadiens.
The pre-game show begins with Kelly Moore at 4 p.m. on 680 CJOB – Paul Edmonds and Jamie Thomas have the call of the game at 6 p.m.