Gabe Vilardi scored the lone goal in the shootout to give the visiting Winnipeg Jets a 4-3 victory over the struggling Calgary Flames on Saturday to end a six-game road trip on a positive note.
Mark Scheifele, Tanner Pearson and Cole Perfetti scored in regulation time for the Jets, who collected only two wins during their trek (2-4-0). Josh Morrissey and Kyle Connor both collected two assists.
Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck made 31 saves through overtime and stopped all three Flames shots he faced in the shootout.
Matt Coronato collected a goal and an assist, while Jake Bean and Kevin Bahl also scored for the Flames, who erased three deficits but have lost four of five games (1-3-1) and sit at the bottom of the NHL standings. Morgan Frost netted two assists.
Goalie Dustin Wolf stopped 20 shots before the shootout.
With the chance to win the game on his stick as the third shooter, Vilardi snapped a forehand just past Wolf’s glove for the winner, finishing a back-and-forth affair.
Scheifele opened the scoring at 7:19 of the second period when he finished an odd-man rush. Connor threaded a pass across the ice to Scheifele, and he unloaded a high shot from deep in the right circle to kick off a wild 66 seconds.
Bean replied 33 seconds later when his point shot ricocheted off Perfetti’s stick and into the cage for his first goal in 47 games.
Pearson restored Winnipeg’s lead another 33 seconds after that when a blocked shot came right to him in the slot and he quickly whipped it home to make it a 2-1 affair.
Bahl pulled Calgary even five minutes later with a point shot that banked into the net off the skate of Jets defenseman Logan Stanley.
Perfetti put the Jets ahead a third time 80 seconds into the third period when he pounced on a loose puck for the power-play tally, his first goal of the season.
However, Coronato drew the hosts even again with a power-play goal at 18:46 of the third period. Coronato finished a rebound for his team’s first man-advantage marker in eight games and only the second this season at home.
Rookie Flames forward Sam Honzek left the game in the second period after colliding with teammate Mikael Backlund and hitting his head when he landed on the ice.
–Field Level Media
