Mark Scheifele lift Winnipeg Jets win over Ottawa Senators

OTTAWA — Mark Scheifele scored twice on Saturday night to lead the Winnipeg Jets to a 5-1 win over the Ottawa Senators.

Nikolaj Ehlers, Blake Wheeler and Cole Perfetti also scored for Winnipeg (30-16-1). Connor Hellebuyck stopped 25 shots.

Ehlers, who missed 36 games with a stomach injury, now has 12 points (4G, 8A) in his last nine games since returning to the lineup.

Josh Norris scored the only goal for the Senators (20-23-3), who continue to struggle defensively. Anton Forsberg made 25 saves.

The Senators lost 4-1 to Pittsburgh on Friday night while the Jets waited in Ottawa.

Winnipeg was in the third contest of a five-game road trip, but lost its first two to Toronto and Montreal and lost games for the fifth straight season this season. After losing two or more games, the Jets won several games in a row.

With a 3-1 lead early in the third game, the Jets seemed in complete control as Ottawa looked uninspired for stretches.

Despite a full house, the Senators fans had little reason to celebrate and headed for the exits when Scheifele scored his second goal with just under four minutes remaining.

Perfetti’s goal late in the third that gave the Jets a 5-1 lead didn’t affect the game, but Wheeler got his 900th point on an assist.

Winnipeg scored two goals in the second round and dominated the game for most of the time.

Scheifele scored his 27th of the year with a one-timer at the five-minute mark, and some poor defensive coverage from the Senators allowed Wheeler to jump on Ehlers’ rebound to put the Jets 3-1 ahead.

The Jets opened the scoring after six minutes on the power play when Ehlers took a feed from Josh Morrissey and capitalized on it for his fourth win of the season.

Ottawa equalized it mid-period when Claude Giroux won the faceoff in the offensive zone and fed Norris, who once shoved it past Hellebuyck, who didn’t look ready for the shot.

With the assist, Giroux reached 40 points for the 14th straight season.

INTERESTING FACT

Ice hockey’s intersecting ties were at their finest on Saturday morning when Winnipeg head coach Rick Bowness had a chance to skate at the Canadian Tire Center with his grandson, as his son Ryan is the Senators’ assistant general manager.

REMARKS

Dylan Gambrell replaced Derick Brassard for the Ottawa Senators. Winnipeg substitutions included Karson Kuhlman replacing Sam Gagner and Dylan Samberg replacing Ville Heinola.

The Senators host the New York Islanders on Wednesday night while the Jets travel to Philadelphia on Sunday night to face the Flyers.

This report from The Canadian Press was first published on January 21, 2023.