The Winnipeg Jets will go for their 10th straight win when they host the slumping San Jose Sharks on Monday night.
The Jets came out of the 4 Nations Face-Off break with a 4-3 shootout victory in St. Louis Saturday night and set a franchise record with their ninth straight win.
San Jose plays the second contest of a season-long seven-game road trip following a 3-2 loss at the Calgary Flames on Sunday night.
Tyler Toffoli had a goal and an assist, and rookie Macklin Celebrini scored for the Sharks, who have lost five in a row and 11 of the past 12 games. Alexandar Georgiev made 33 saves but lost his sixth straight start.
“If anyone says they’re having a good time losing games then I don’t want them on my team to be honest,” Toffoli said. “It’s one of those things where we just have to keep working and keep trying to find a way to battle and we need to get some wins.”
Celebrini’s goal was his 18th and moved him one ahead of Philadelphia’s Matvei Michkov for the NHL rookie lead.
It was San Jose’s 19th one-goal loss of the season. They have an NHL-worst 37 points.
“I thought we had some really good opportunities,” Toffoli said. “A couple of mental errors, I think. It ended up costing us the game.”
Toffoli has points in six straight games (four goals, four assists).
On Saturday, Gabe Vilardi scored twice and Nikolaj Ehlers had the other goal in regulation for the Jets, who became the first team in the NHL to reach 40 wins and remain first in the Western Conference with 83 points.
Kyle Connor scored the winning goal in the shootout and Eric Comrie made 21 saves, including stopping all three shots he faced in the shootout. Cole Perfetti (two assists) extended his point streak to six games (one goal, seven assists).
“I just mentioned to the team that was a game where a lot of different things went on and it’s those games late in the year that you need to get the two points, find a way to win,” Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said. “It might be a playoff game, same type of thing. We were down and found a way to come back.”
Vilardi tied the game 3-3 at 19:32 with a tip of Connor’s shot. Connor (30 goals, 40 assists) hit the 70-point mark for the fourth time in his career.
“It was a good start to this last little stretch with a win,” Connor said. “It’s tough to win in this league, no matter who you’re playing every single night.”
The Jets have outscored their opponents 39-19 during their winning streak.
Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck and defenseman Josh Morrissey are expected to return to the lineup on Monday. They sat out the game on Saturday after participating in the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Ehlers and Perfetti scored two goals each as the Jets beat the Sharks 8-3 in the teams’ first meeting on Oct. 18. On Dec. 17, Connor had two goals and Adam Lowry scored the winning goal with just over a minute left in regulation as the Jets rallied for a 4-3 win.
–Field Level Media
