Through two-plus games of hockey this season, Winnipeg Jets forwards had combined to score zero five-on-five goals.
That changed in a big way Monday night in Pittsburgh as the Jets got three such goals in the third period of a 3-2 win over the Penguins, improving to 2-0-1 on the young season.
The Penguins got the first power play of the night when Viggo Bjorck was called for the first penalty of his young career. The Jets killed it off, allowing the rookie to have a good look to score right out of the box but his shot was denied by Sergei Murashov.
Gabriel Vilardi had multiple chances to get on the board in the opening frame. His first came at the back door after a great pass from Isak Rosen, but Murashov made the save. Vilardi also struck iron from the slot after a turnover by the Penguins in their own end.
When all was said and done, the score remained 0-0 after 20 minutes with Winnipeg outshooting Pittsburgh 12-11, including 8-1 over the final 7:30.
Less than a minute into the second, it was Kyle Connor’s turn to rip one off the post, seconds before setting up Mark Scheifele for a net-front chance that was swiped away by the glove of Murashov, who was making just his fifth NHL start.
Several minutes later, the two combined again for another chance as they got free on a partial two-on-one. Scheifele set up Connor for a one-timer but Murashov denied it with the blocker.
With 10:33 to go in the second, Pittsburgh thought for a moment that they had opened the scoring when Ben Kindel redirected a high, fluttering puck through the legs of Clay Stevenson, making his first start as a Jet and the sixth of his NHL career.
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Officials immediately waved it off, deeming that the puck was steered in by a high stick. But after they reviewed the play for a few minutes, they determined that Kindel’s stick was not above the crossbar when it touched the puck, so Pittsburgh was given the goal.
Winnipeg got their first power play look with 6:55 to go in the period when Blake Lizotte was called for boarding Dylan DeMelo. But after going 4-for-7 in their first two games, they came up empty on the chance, failing to get a shot on goal.
In the final minute of the period, the Jets hit the iron again, with Neal Pionk ripping a shot from the point that clanged off the crossbar and out of play.
Pittsburgh outshot the Jets 11-8 in the period and carried the 1-0 lead into the third.
But it didn’t take too long for Winnipeg to draw level. Alex Iafallo carried the puck over the Pittsburgh blue line and dished it to Rosen on his right. Rosen then fired a shot that was stopped by Murashov but Erik Karlsson pushed the rebound right to the stick of Iafallo at the side of the net for a tap-in with 15:17 to go in the third.
The goal came after Scott Arniel shuffled the bottom three lines to start the third, with Morgan Barron moving up to the second line, Rosen and Iafallo joining Adam Lowry on the third line and Brad Lambert sliding down to the fourth line.
The third line struck again with 12:52 to go in the third. After DeMelo forced a turnover at the point, Lowry won a battle to free the puck to Iafallo, who drove hard to the net and drew a delayed penalty. Murashov lost track of where the rebound was, allowing Lowry to race to it and poke it home for his first of the season.
Less than two minutes later, the Pens tied things up. A failed clear by Bjorck led to Ville Koivunen grabbing the puck out of the air, putting it on the ice and passing it to the corner for Kindel. He spotted a wide-open Declan Carlile in the slot, who wired a wrister past Stevenson with 11:07 remaining.
The game remained tied for all of nine seconds as the Jets struck right back off the ensuing faceoff.
Pittsburgh actually won the draw but misplayed the puck just outside their own blue line. Josh Morrissey corralled it, skated into the Pens’ zone and sent a cross-ice pass that Cole Perfetti blasted past Murashov to restore Winnipeg’s lead.
The Jets nearly doubled their lead with just under three minutes left when a seeing-eye point shot from Dylan Samberg rang off the post.
Moments later, Pittsburgh pulled their goalie for an extra skater. It took a while for the Pens to get a shot on goal, and with less than 20 seconds to go they got their best look. After Scheifele turned the puck over at the blue line, Evgeni Malkin got a hard shot off from the high slot but Stevenson turned it aside with his blocker.
Stevenson made 29 saves to earn the win while Murashov stopped 30 shots in defeat.
Winnipeg will now return home to host the Colorado Avalanche Wednesday night. Puck drop is just after 6:30 p.m. with an extended pregame show on 680 CJOB beginning at 4 p.m.