Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele and Gabriel Vilardi all recorded three points, and Jonathan Toews notched an assist in his first matchup with his former team as the Winnipeg Jets beat the visiting Chicago Blackhawks 6-3 on Thursday night.
Winnipeg’s top line was the story with Vilardi scoring twice and adding an assist, while Connor and Scheifele each had a goal with two helpers. Josh Morrissey posted a goal and an assist for the Jets, who have won eight of the first 11.
Toews, the Blackhawks legend who captained the franchise to three Stanley Cups in 15 seasons, assisted on Morrissey’s third-period goal for his sixth point of 2025-26. Back after missing two seasons due to health reasons, Toews last suited up for the Blackhawks in April 2023.
Teuvo Teravainen, Alex Vlasic and a late through-the-legs backhander from Andre Burakovsky accounted for the scoring by Chicago, which entered the game on a 5-1-1 run.
Winnipeg took advantage of an early penalty by Chicago’s Colton Dach to open the scoring 1:42 into the contest. On the power play, Gustav Nyquist backhanded the puck from behind the Blackhawks’ net into the slot for Vladislav Namestnikov to bury.
Nyquist, however, sustained an undisclosed injury later in the period and did not return.
Chicago equalized with 11:03 remaining in the opening period. Connor Murphy’s long dump-in took a strange carom off the end board, away from Jets netminder Connor Hellebuyck (21 saves) and into the slot for Teravainen to convert into the open net.
Winnipeg regained the lead with 3:04 left in the first. Vilardi delivered the successful finish on a 2-on-1 rush with Scheifele.
The Jets made it 3-1 just 1:54 into the second. Off an errant Chicago pass, the puck was taken by Connor, who entered the Blackhawks zone and set up Scheifele to squirt it through the legs of Spencer Knight (26 saves).
Vilardi’s second goal of the night came with 8:41 remaining in the middle frame. He was camped out in the slot and one-timed Dylan DeMelo’s pass beyond Knight for a 4-1 advantage.
–Field Level Media
