Cole Perfetti had a hat-trick and Nikolaj Ehlers had three points of his own, including his 500th career point, as the Winnipeg Jets (33-14-3) took care of business at home, beating the Utah Hockey Club (21-20-7) 5-2 on Friday night. Connor Hellebuyck had 17 saves in the win.
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Nick Schmaltz and Barrett Hayton scored for Utah, while Connor Ingram made 24 saves in the loss.
Game Recap
Perfetti opened the scoring at 17:52 of the first period on a power play goal, one-timing an Ehlers cross-ice pass past Ingram.
Schmaltz tied the game up at 1:13 of the second, with a power play goal of his own, tipping a Michael Kesselring shot past Hellebuyck. David Gustafsson put the Jets back up at 8:48, capitalizing off of a wonky deflection off of the boards behind the net, causing Ingram to leave the net and play the puck. Instead of the puck being behind the net, it bounced in front of an open net, where Gustafsson put it home.
Hayton brought the game back to even at 1:19 of the third period with a wrist shot from the right circle. Perfetti needed less than five minutes to score his second of the game and give the Jets the lead on a pass from Vladislav Namestnikov.
Ehlers made it 4-2 on a breakaway at 12:16, and Perfetti took advantage of the empty net at 18:52 to solidify the hat trick. Ehlers had an assist on Perfetti’s final goal, giving Ehlers the 500th point of his career.
Up Next
The Jets are back in action on Sunday night as they host the Calgary Flames. The Utah Hockey Club will be in Canada’s capital on Sunday to take on the Ottawa Senators.
