Kyle Connor achieved his 2nd hat trick of the 2022-23 NHL season as the Winnipeg Jets beat the Vancouver Canucks 7-4 Sunday evening in the Manitoba capital.
Connor's first hat trick came in the Jets' 3-2 win vs Anaheim at the Canada Life Centre back in November 2022. He scored his first 2 goals of the night for the first two goals by either team to start the game, first at the 6:22 mark of period 1 and then at the 7:59 point. They were his 18th and 19th goals of the season, respectively, giving Winnipeg the early 2-0 lead.
J.T. Miller (15) at 15:14 of the opening period got Vancouver on the board. They would also get the last laugh, tying things at 2 from Jack Studnicka (3) at 17:33.
The Jets started period 2 with goals by Nikolaj Ehlers (1) at 3:40 and Morgan Barron (5) to take a 4-2 lead. However, Vancouver came back to tie things up after tallies from Bo Horvat (29) at 7:05 and Sheldon Dries (5) on the power play at about 9 and a half minutes in. Axel Jonsson-Fjallby (3) got the final goal of the period for the Jets, giving them a 5-4 lead heading to the 3rd period.
Dylan DeMelo's shorthanded goal (2) was the first goal of the period, giving Winnipeg a 6-4 lead. The Jets finished off Vancouver with their final goal of the evening, and it was Connor's hat-rainer at 13:42, his 20th goal of the season, putting things away for Winnerpeg.
Vancouver did manage to outshoot the Jets 38-27 and outhit them 33-23 while also edging them on faceoff wins, 28-27. The Canucks also received 0 penalties throughout the whole game, while Winnipeg had 6 total penalty minutes for 3 separate infractions.
The Jets improve to 25-13-1 and remain at the top of the Central Division standings, just above Dallas. They also win their 5th straight contest, with their next meeting being a trip to Detroit to face the Red Wings on Jan 10, with a 7 pm puck drop scheduled. Vancouver, meanwhile, falls to 17-19-3 and 6th in the Pacific Division. Their next contest is a trip to Pittsburgh, on the same date and start time.
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