Winnipeg Jets begin six-game road trip with 4-1 win in Pittsburgh

After a big win against Florida at home, the Winnipeg Jets started their longest road trip of the season with a bang.
The Jets improved to 17-3 on the season thanks to a 4-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins Friday night.
The Jets scored just 82 seconds into the game to take the lead for good as they ended their short two-game road losing streak.
It’s only the third time the Jets have won in Pittsburgh during the 2.0 era.
Kyle Connor had a Gordie Howe hat trick (1 goal, 1 assist, 1 fight). He fought Sidney Crosby in his first NHL fight in the third period after Connor made a big check on Crosby only moments earlier.
“He didn’t like the hit apparently,” said Connor. “He came up to me, a couple crosschecks , and it just kinda happened. And we’re not taking s–t from anybody, so it’s kinda what transpired and just kinda escalated.”
“I do not want to see that,” Jets head coach Scott Arniel said. “Great that he got a Gordie Howe hat trick, but I do not want to see my top goal scorer dropping the gloves, but that’s just the compete in K.C.”
After scoring once in the first, the Jets added two more in the middle frame. The Pens had a strong push in the third, but the Jets allowed only one goal before Connor sealed it with the empty netter.
Nino Niederreiter, Vladislav Namestnikov and Gabriel Vilardi had the other markers for Winnipeg, but it was the early game goal that gave the Jets the momentum as they hit the quarter way mark of their schedule.
“That’s a great start,” said Arniel. “Gets them back on their heels and maybe some negative thoughts, whatever it might be, but just liked the way the first couple periods went. Actually we played a pretty good road game to get things started.”
It was the start of a grueling stretch with six road games, in six different states over the span of just 10 days.
The Jets are still undefeated at 10-0 when scoring the first goal of the game. They’re also unbeaten when leading after two periods, now 13-0 for the season.
With two more points, Connor has 26 for the season, and now owns the second-highest point total through 20 games in franchise history behind only Mark Scheifele who recorded 28 points in 2020-2021.
Niederreiter opened the scoring almost immediately in this one after Evgeni Malkin turned the puck over deep in the Penguins’ zone, 1:22 into the game. The puck ricocheted to the Swiss winger for his eighth of the season, making a nice move on Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry.
Jarry had to be sharp early, even after the first goal for the Jets, stopping three scoring chances before the game had even hit the five-minute mark.
Pittsburgh got their first power play of the game a little over the midway point of the first period. The Penguins had a few chances, one in front and one coming off a one timer from the point, courtesy of Erik Karlsson but Connor Hellebuyck stood tall.
After the Penguins powerplay, the pace of play started to stagnate a little bit until Jesse Puljujärvi took a holding penalty at the 16:47 mark. The best powerplay in the NHL had some troubles generating any chances up a man until Jarry made a nice save off a deflected Neal Pionk shot.
In the second period, Namestnikov added to the Jets lead on his 32nd birthday just before the five-minute mark on a developing odd-man rush. Nikolaj Ehlers dropped the puck to the trailing Namestnikov and he grabbed his own rebound on the backhand after the initial shot was stopped by Jarry for his sixth goal on the season.
Hellebuyck was tested a little bit more than he was in the first period, including an odd-man rush where Rickard Rakell ripped a wrist shot just over the pad, but the Jets goaltender snatched that shot out of the air with the glove. The Penguins looked sluggish and that play continued into the second with plenty of turnovers that led to a handful of Jet scoring opportunities.
Malkin’s rough game continued in the 2nd period after he tripped Vilardi along the boards with 75 seconds left in the second period sending the Jets to the powerplay. Vilardi wasted no time, ripping a one-timer in the slot thanks to a nice pass from Connor to quiet the Pittsburgh crowd and give Winnipeg a 3-0 lead.
It was a fiesty start to the third period, with two unusual suspects. Crosby and Connor dropped the gloves in a short scrap between one of the greatest of all time and a former Lady Byng Trophy winner. The refs gave Michael Bunting a cross-checking penalty on the play as well, but the Jets were unable to make the Penguins pay despite some good puck movement.
The penalty parade continued early in the third with Alex Iafallo sitting in the box for two minutes due to a tripping penalty.
The Penguins ended Hellebuyck’s shutout bid after Bunting buried a backdoor tap-in on the man advantage thanks to a nice feed from Bryan Rust. The penalty kill has struggled a little bit over the past two games, giving up three goals on their last six tries.
Up by two, the Jets gave the Penguins a chance to get within one after Cole Perfetti interfered Noel Acciari just after the halfway mark of the third. Despite some tense moments, the Penguins weren’t able to generate anything this go around on the power play with boos raining down from the Pittsburgh crowd.
Pittsburgh pulled the goalie trying to narrow the lead, but they didn’t generate much with the extra attacker and Connor got loose and potted home his 13th of the season to close it out.
Hellebuyck improved to 14-2 on the year, stopping 17 of 18 shots.
The Jets continue this six-game road trip on Saturday against the the Nashville Predators. The pregame show begins on 680 CJOB at 4 p.m., with puck drop just after 6 p.m.