Kyle Connor had an assist and an empty-net goal in the Winnipeg Jets’ 4-1 road win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday.
Nino Niederreiter, Vladislav Namestnikov, and Gabriel Vilardi also scored for the Jets, who are now on a two-game winning streak.
Winnipeg leads the NHL with 17 wins and 34 points.
Connor Hellebuyck made 17 saves on 18 shots for his league-leading 14th win. The Vezina Trophy winner from last season is having another strong year with a .924 save percentage in 16 games.
Michael Bunting scored the only goal for the Penguins, and Tristan Jarry stopped 26 of 29 shots.
Pittsburgh has won only once in its last six games (1-3-2). The Penguins recorded a season-low 18 shots on Friday, beating their previous low of 19 shots in Tuesday’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Winnipeg took the lead early, scoring just 1:22 into the first period after Evgeni Malkin’s turnover. Malkin made a bad clearance attempt on a puck that deflected off the end boards, and Niederreiter took advantage of the loose puck in front of the Penguins’ net to score his eighth goal of the season.
On his 32nd birthday, Namestnikov scored 4:53 into the second period. The Jets’ three-on-two rush led to an initial shot from Namestnikov that was saved, but he picked up his own rebound and scored his sixth goal of the season.
The Jets added another goal on the power play late in the second period when Vilardi fired a quick wrist shot from the slot just 59 seconds before the intermission.
The Jets were 1-for-3 on the power play on Friday and lead the NHL in power-play percentage at 35.6%.
Pittsburgh’s frustration boiled over in the third period when Sidney Crosby fought Connor near the beginning of the period. Crosby’s fight seemed to give the Penguins some energy, as they played more competitively in the final frame.
Bunting’s power-play goal, his fourth of the season, brought the Penguins within one at the 5:49 mark. However, that was all Pittsburgh could manage, as Connor sealed the win with an empty-net goal at 18:49 of the third period.
