Mark Scheifele celebrated a record-setting night with a power-play goal, and Connor Hellebuyck continued his domination of Nashville on Saturday as the Winnipeg Jets defeated the visiting Predators 4-1.
Scheifele’s goal allowed him to pass Blake Wheeler as the franchise’s all-time leader with 813 points. Vladislav Namestnikov and Nino Niederreiter both scored and assisted on a goal, while Logan Stanley found the back of the net as well.
Jonathan Toews added two assists for his first multipoint game with his hometown team.
A Michael Bunting goal with 1:04 left denied Hellebuyck’s attempt for his first shutout of the season. Still, the two-time defending Vezina Trophy winner’s performance helped the Jets win their fourth straight as he stopped 30 shots as he posted his 18th win over Nashville in 30 games.
Juuse Saros made 20 saves for Nashville, which ended a four-game road trip losing the last three (0-2-1).
Scheifele started the scoring just 2:39 into the game as his sixth goal of the season came off assists from Kyle Connor and Alex Iafallo. Niederreiter doubled the lead eight minutes later as Namestnikov’s pass allowed him to skate in on a breakaway and beat Soros with a backhander for his second of the season. Dylan DeMelo tallied the secondary helper on the goal.
Nashville had its share of chances, especially with Winnipeg drawing four minor penalties. That included 44 seconds of 5-on-3 hockey six minutes into the second period, but the Predators managed just one shot in that timeframe.
Still, the Predators put 15 shots on Hellebuyck in the middle 20 minutes only to remain two goals down.
Stanley would put the game away as his goal from the point came with 14:34 left in the game. His second of the year, coming off assists by Gustav Nyquist and Toews, also deflected off a charging Fedor Svechkov. The Predators center tried to block the shot, but he changed the puck’s course on Saros instead.
Namestnikov scored the Jets’ final goal on the power play with 3:08 left. Winnipeg has now scored five times in 15 chances with the man advantage (33.3%) in five games. The Predators finished 0-for-4 on power-play chances. They are now just 2-for-23 (8.7%) six games into the season.
–Field Level Media
