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After three straight days of practice, the Winnipeg Jets were ready to go.
The Jets scored four goals in the first period as they defeated the still winless San Jose Sharks 8-3 on Friday night at the Canada Life Centre.
After a pair of tight overtime wins, the Jets scored early and often to start the season with four straight wins for the first time in Jets history. The Jets are one of only three undefeated teams in the NHL.
“We had obviously only scored one goal in the last few games and we had had a lot of chances,” head coach Scott Arniel said. “Every unit and every line looked like they had a lot of chances that weren’t taken and tonight it’s nice to see everyone rewarded for that.”
Cole Perfetti and Nikolaj Ehlers each scored twice. And Perfetti and Vladislav Namestnikov both had career-best four-point nights.
“We all use our speed and our skills,” Namestnikov said. “And just getting those pucks on net and we did it today.”
The Jets’ second line had trouble producing offensively in the first three games. But Ehlers, Perfetti and Namestnikov broke out in a big way as they combined for 11 points in the win.
“We believe in each other and know what we can do,” said Perfetti. “I don’t think anything has magically changed. I think we just had the mentality of confidence and belief in what we can do as a line.
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“We knew it was coming. It only took a few games and hopefully now the floodgates will open and I think it was a really good confidence game for our line.”
The Jets, with the NHL’s top power play, scored four goals on the man advantage in seven opportunities. This is only the second time in Jets 2.0 history that they have scored four power play goals in a game. They have now been successful with 50 percent of their power play opportunities in the first four games.
The Jets wasted little time getting on the board. After Ehlers skated the puck into the Sharks’ end, he took it into the corner before passing it back to Colin Miller, who then sent a pass down the ice to Josh Morrissey. His wrister from the point eluded Mackenzie Blackwood to make it 1-0 1:59 into the match.
Winnipeg continued to apply the pressure through the opening 10 minutes, with San Jose barely getting a sniff of the puck, leading to a pair of Sharks penalties that put the Jets on a lengthy 5-on-3.
The Jets’ red-hot power play took full advantage. After cycling the puck around the San Jose end, Gabriel Vilardi found Ehlers for a one-timer that he buried to make it 2-0 at 9:25.
Winnipeg took a penalty shortly after Ehlers scored, putting the Sharks on the power play where they cut into the Jets’ lead. Former Jet Tyler Toffoli tapped a Jake Walman point shot past Connor Hellebuyck to make it 2-1.
But less than two minutes later, Winnipeg restored its two-goal lead. Perfetti made a great play, stealing the puck after a solid backcheck before sliding the puck to Ehlers for the lead. He ripped a wrister past Blackwood to make it 3-1 at 13:31.
The Jets found themselves on another power play late in the first and their second unit cashed. An innocent-looking wrist shot from Neal Pionk beat Blackwood through some traffic to make it 4-1 after 20 minutes.
The Sharks opted to leave Blackwood for the second, but he lasted just 1:46 before Kyle Connor drove past him for his third of the season, ending his night in favor of Vitek Vanecek who had played the night before in Chicago .
Winnipeg continued to dominate possession for much of the second, but the only other goal in the period came from San Jose. Luke Kunin got loose in the slot and beat Hellebuyck in five-hole close quarters around the middle of the period.
The Jets made it 6-2 at 9:50 of the third when Perfetti took a pass from Alex Iafallo in the slot and raced past Vanecek.
Just 19 seconds later, San Jose made it 6-3 when Fabian Zetterlund defeated Hellebuyck in a 2-on-1.
Winnipeg soon found themselves on another power play and again they took advantage when Perfetti scored his second of the period on a slapshot that should have been stopped by Vanecek but beat him by five holes.
Not wanting to be left out of the scoring fire, Namestnikov buried one in transition with just over 30 seconds left to make it 8-3.
Making his 500th career start, Hellebuyck had to put aside just 19 shots to earn the victory on Hellebuyck night as the club celebrated its Vezina and Jennings Trophy awards from last season.
The Jets are back in action on Sunday afternoon against Pittsburgh, where they will honor Bryan Little. The pregame show is at noon on 680 CJOB, with puck drop just after 2 p.m.
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Russ Hobson
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