Nino Niederreiter scored a pair of goals and the Winnipeg Jets jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period and never looked back, defeating the host Nashville Predators 5-2 on Saturday night to end a four-game losing streak.
Gabriel Vilardi, Cole Perfetti and Kyle Connor were the other goal scorers for the Jets, while Dylan Samberg had three assists and fellow defenseman Luke Schenn two more. Eric Comrie made 20 stops to get the win.
Nick Blankenburg and Luke Evangelista scored goals, with Erik Haula assisting on each, as the Predators tried to claw back from a 3-0 hole more than halfway through the game. Justus Annunen turned aside 20 pucks in the loss.
The Jets struck early, taking a 1-0 lead just 47 seconds into the game when Vilardi finished off a give-and-go with Mark Scheifele, burying the rebound from Scheifele’s initial shot.
Despite a sluggish pace that saw the teams combine for only three shots on goal through the first 10 minutes, Winnipeg carried a 2-0 heading into the second period. Niederreiter doubled the advantage with 54 seconds remaining in the first, streaking down the wall and wiring a shot from the dot past the Predators’ netminder.
Winnipeg suffered a brief scare when Vlad Namestnikov left for the tunnel following an accidental collision with Nashville forward Tyson Jost, though he later returned.
The Jets kept pressing in the second, and Perfetti made it 3-0 at 12:18, batting a pass from Namestnikov home from the slot.
A Logan Stanley hooking penalty gave Nashville life late in the middle stanza, and the Predators finally broke through with 2:58 left in the second when Blankenburg’s point shot deflected off Morgan Barron and in, cutting the deficit to 3-1.
Nashville pushed hard to open the third period and pulled within one when Evangelista banked a backhand off Comrie’s back and in at 2:45, cutting the Jets’ lead to 3-2.
Winnipeg would restore the two-goal cushion at 10:23, however, when Connor tipped in a driving point shot from Schenn to make it 4-2.
Niederreiter scored his second of the game into the empty net for the 5-2 final with 21 seconds remaining.
–Field Level Media
