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Avalanche Top Bruins 4-1 Behind MacKinnon’s Two-Goal Night

Despite a competitive first period, the Colorado Avalanche outplayed the Boston Bruins overall. The Avalanche outshot the Bruins in every period, but goaltender Jeremy Swayman kept the Bruins within striking distance throughout the game. Nathan MacKinnon's two-goal performance ultimately helped the Avalanche win and secure two valuable points.

Recap

The action starts early, as Charlie McAvoy sets up John Beecher with a nice slap pass to take the early 1-0 lead with the first shot on goal in the game. The Avalanche ties it up four minutes later, with David Pastrnak turning the puck over and Artturi Lehkonen recovering it. It's Nathan MacKinnon who finishes the play with a nice backhand shot, 1-1. 

Three minutes later, off a Gabriel Landeskog face-off win, Brent Burns feeds Josh Manson, who rifles one a one-timer past Jeremy Swayman and in, 2-1. MacKinnon is called for tripping Fraser Minten, although on replay, it appears Minten tripped on the puck. However, the call stands, and the Avalanche kills off the penalty, ending the period 2-1.

It was all Avalanche in the second period, though Swayman has been on top of his game, keeping the Bruins within a one-goal deficit. The Avalanche power play struggle continues as they get two more opportunities in the period, a Hampus Lindholm cross-checking penalty and a McAvoy tripping penalty, but nothing comes out of those attempts. Finishing the period outshooting the Bruins 17-2, it's still close with one period remaining. 

Four minutes into the period, MacKinnon receives another great pass from Lehkonen, who blasts it right past Swayman to make it 3-1. Swayman was also partially screened by his own teammate, recognizing the shot went past him too late. Wedgewood hasn't needed to make many saves this game, but he makes his best robbing Beecher, who tried to rifle in a rebound shot, and his second of the match, but Wedgewood flashes his glove and holds the 3-1 lead. Josh Manson is called for interference, but the Avalanche kills the penalty off. 

Nikita Zadorov crashes into Wedgwood, which causes a small scrum in front of the net, and him being called for goalie interference. The Avalanche once again fails to capitalize on the power play. The Bruins pull Swayman with two minutes left in the period, and Martin Necas capitalizes on the empty net and scores to make it 4-1, ending the game.

The Colorado Avalanche are back in action on Tuesday, October 21, against the Utah Mammoth in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Joel Kiviranta out indefinitely with lower-body injuryJoel Kiviranta out indefinitely with lower-body injuryJoel Kiviranta is sidelined indefinitely with a lower-body injury apparently sustained during Thursday’s win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.Mackenzie Blackwood’s conditioning stint with Eagles ends early as Avalanche eye returnMackenzie Blackwood’s conditioning stint with Eagles ends early as Avalanche eye returnMackenzie Blackwood’s unexpectedly brief conditioning stint with the Colorado Eagles appears to signal a pivotal step in his recovery, positioning him for an imminent return to the Avalanche’s NHL roster.
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Marner And Stone Score Twice To Lead Offensive Charge In Golden Knights' 6-1 Win Over Calgary

Mitch Marner loves to "hear the love and the loudness" inside T-Mobile Arena, his new home arena with the Golden Knights.

Saturday he helped fuel the energy for an announced crowd of 17,811 by scoring his first two goals as a Knight, while Vegas cruised to a 6-1 win over the Calgary Flames.

Vegas (4-0-2) extended its season-opening point streak to six games.

Team captain Mark Stone finished with two goals and two assists, while Jack Eichel had four assists.

Tomas Hertl and Ivan Barbashev also scored for the Knights.

Adin Hill earned his first win of the season after stopping 26 shots, as he made his first start since exiting the game in Calgary on Tuesday.

"I felt in control the whole night," Hill said. "They kept kind of looking for backdoor plays on the power play. And I was just trying to kind of stay in my net and keep my feet under me and do everything I came to be in position."

And while the Flames finished 1 of 3 on the power play, Vegas was a perfect 3 of 3 with the man advantage.

The Golden Knights rank second in the NHL with their power play percentage (37.5%).

"It's pretty fun," Marner said of the power play. "So many different threats out there that make plays. For me, it's just trying to find open ice for Jack to make his play. ... They've done a great job down low, really making teams play in different areas there. It's been a lot of fun to watch."

Marner opened the scoring just 46 seconds into the game, bringing the home crowd to life immediately. But it was the 28-year-old forward's crafty stick work that sent the crowd into a frenzy near the end of the second period.

Marner extended Vegas' lead to four goals when he gathered a pass from Stone during a power play, skated to the front of the crease and used a forehand-backhand deke to beat Calgary netminder Dustin Wolf

Marner now has eight points on the year, after assisting on six goals in the first five games.

Eichel, who extended his season-opening point streak to six games after finishing with four assists, owns the franchise record for the most points through the club’s first six games of the season. His 15 points lead the league, while his five multi-point games are the most by any skater this season.

Stone is second in the league with 13 points, including an NHL-high 11 assists. Eichel is just behind him with 10 helpers.

Stone left the game in the third period after falling to the ice near the neutral zone, and immediately went to the locker room. Television replays showed him rotating his wrist. Cassidy said there were no immediate updates and he would know more by Monday's morning skate ahead of Vegas' game against Carolina.

Hertl, who scored his third goal of the season, played in the 797th game of his career. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Hertl will play in his 800th career game on Oct. 26 in Tampa, on the second of a back-to-back after visiting two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Florida.

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Observations From Blues' 3-1 Win Vs. Stars For First Home Win

ST. LOUIS – It was pretty low-keyed around here for the St. Louis Blues after their last home game on Wednesday.

They were lambasted by the Chicago Blackhawks, 8-3, and dropped to 0-2-0 at Enterprise Center and outscored 13-3. Coach Jim Montgomery was wanting to see “more of a competitive spirit by our team.”

Well he got that and then some on Saturday night against a very good Dallas Stars, and the Blues responded with arguably their most complete effort of the season, winning 3-1 for their first home win of the season.

Jordan Kyrou scored his first goal of the season, Jimmy Snuggerud added his third in three games, Pius Suter iced it with an empty-net goal, and Jordan Binnington came within 2:18 of earning his first shutout of the season, but the Blues’ netminder made 18 saves.

“Obviously way better game overall,” Kyrou said. “I thought our habits were great. I thought our effort was great, our compete was great. It’s great to get that first win at home.”

Lets look at Saturday’s observations:

* Best stick game in years? – Well, according to Montgomery, it was, in fact the best game using their sticks to break up plays since a special time around these parts.

“Our sticks were probably the best I’ve seen them since probably the year after the Blues won the Cup,” Montgomery said. “That was a really good year and that team had great sticks. Something we’ve been preaching and the players are starting to do it. Hopefully we can develop that consistently.”

The Stars have plenty of weapons, and in particular, if you allow them to gain a head of steam, especially from their defensemen moving pucks in transition, you will get burned.

The Blues as a group were killing plays, and when the Stars were gaining the zone, the D-men were efficient in not allowing pucks to get to the net, they intercepted seam passes, tied up sticks in front of Binnington and used those break-ups to their advantage.

“We were just moving our feet,” Kyrou said. “We were staying on top, not really diving down and not letting them get too many odd-man rushes, just staying on top of them and good sticks.

“They’re a super dynamic offensive squad. We want to kind of limit them as much as possible and try to take away any sort of speed that they can get. Obviously with the forecheck it kind of helped.”

* Forecheck was highly efficient – The Blues had a great advantage with offensive zone time and a large part of it was due to their forecheck. They got in on the body, and the forecheck and stick work went hand in hand this game.

The Stars were having to chase the puck for extended shifts in the D-zone, and for an efficient team that’s good at turning pucks out, they had their issues handling the Blues on this night.

It helped fuel the two goals scored in the second period when the Blues outshot the Stars 12-5.

“I think it was a big factor, but more importantly, we tried to force too many offensive plays because we had time to make plays,” Montgomery said. ‘Instead of just possessing it and then either finding someone open in the slot five to seven seconds later, we wanted to find someone in the first period right away. But in the second period, I think that might have been our best period of the year so far.”

* Needed a bounce back – Quite simply, the game Wednesday against the Blackhawks was embarrassing for the Blues.

It was a game of pond hockey at its best but for all the wrong reasons. An effort and executed game like that against a top-notch Western Conference team would not have looked pretty.

But the players regrouped, realized it was put up or shut up and they rose to the occasion.

“We knew we needed to respond,” Binnington said. ‘… We’re still building something here. We got right back to work on Friday and now we’re building each day and it was a big response by us.”

Added defenseman Cam Fowler, who had an exceptional defensive game with partner Colton Parayko, “That was a lot better. Obviously we were disappointed with the effort that we had in that last game and even the game before that on home ice. We didn’t come out to play either of those games. Tonight was a lot better overall team effort against a really good hockey team. A good victory for our group moving forward.”

* Kyrou’s goal example of effort paying off – What amounted to be a tight-checking game where mistakes would need to be limited and the first goal would provide to be a huge one, Kyrou took matters into his own hands, and it was the start of the goal that put the Blues ahead 1-0 at 2:27 of the second period that signified the rewarding feeling of making a solid defensive play and turning it into offense.

Kyrou, who had his stick work on par in this game, was able to backtrack into the neutral zone, check the puck back before working up the right side into the zone, cut it back to Brayden Schenn, get it back, ease past Matt Duchene before beating Jake Oettinger low glove:

“ Feels good to get the first one finally,” Kyrou said. “Great play by ‘Schenner’ to get it to me there. I kind of just saw low glove side so I just shot it there.

“Obviously none of us had a great game the other day, including myself. I wanted to try and have a bounce-back game.”

Montgomery was certainly appreciative.

“ Kyrou in particular, his first goal was just an incredible reload where he back-checks and he has his stick on the ice and his God-given ability took over,” Montgomery said.

* Tucker middle net drive on Snuggerud goal – Blues coaches always encourage the defensemen to pinch offensively, and when the Blues got a 3-on-2 breakout, Tyler Tucker knew exactly what he needed to do: act like a forward.

As the defenseman starting the transition, he left the puck off for Pavel Buchnevich while taking his man with him to the net. Buchnevich would get off a shot from the slot, get another attempt that allowed Snuggerud, at the net where he should be, enough wherewithal to poke the puck past Oettinger at 13:52 for a crucial goal and a 2-0 lead:

“It was a really good example of it,” Montgomery said. “We want our defensemen to be active. I actually think that once we get in sync and we get in rhythm, our D-corps can be one of the highest-scoring D-corps in the league. I think we already have a fair amount of goals from our D-corps, but I think it’s going to be more and more. We’ve had a lot of good deflections off their shots.”

* Binnington glove save on Johnston – The Blues had control of the game, but a strong team like the Stars, you knew a third-period push was coming.

If Dallas gets an early goal to make it a one-shot game, it would have been game on.

But when Binnington gloved Wyatt Johnston’s effort in tight to keep it a 2-0 game at 5:35, it just felt like at that moment it would be the Blues’ night:

“He’s a nifty player and I know he can get it up quick,” Binnington said of Johnston. “It just worked out well there. Unfortunately they got one at the end there, but it’s hockey so it was a fun game, fun atmosphere and fans were great too.”

* Suter effort on ENG typified solid team game – The Blues were buckled down after Mikko Rantanen in fact spoiled Binnington’s shutout with 2:18 remaining. That meant that the 5-on-6 group would have to go to work again, and Montgomery had some of his most trusted and reliable defenders on the ice at the time.

Suter was one of them, and his effort along the wall to not only be able to push a puck out of the zone, but fight through Miro Heiskanen before diving and having enough to poke the puck down the ice for the clincher was the icing on the cake of several strong efforts in this game:

“The more we’re getting to know him, the more we realize how smart he is as a hockey player everywhere, and his defensive instincts are really good,” Montgomery said of Suter. “I really liked how well we checked, and it was for 60 minutes. That was a really good team effort. They feel really good about themselves. When you work and you play as five (man units) … our goaltender had to make some great saves, but they weren’t 15. They were less than five.”

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Rangers Show Resilience Through Adversity In Win Over Canadiens

Eric Bolte-Imagn Images

The true character of a team is shown in times of adversity. 

The New York Rangers had their backs against the wall against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night, and still managed to fight their way back, leading to a crucial 4-3 victory. 

Going into this matchup, the Rangers had scored just one goal over their past three games, as their lack of scoring was becoming concerning. 

Adversity was already beginning to strike the Rangers directly in the face, and to make matters worse, the Canadiens opened up Saturday night’s contest with two goals within the first five minutes. 

The crowd at the Bell Centre was going into a frenzy. Meanwhile, the Blueshirts just couldn’t keep up with this speedy Habs team.

The Rangers appeared to be spiraling out of control, with nothing being able to truly stop this downward spiral. 

“I just thought Montreal, in the first, you know, five-six minutes of the game, they were just one step quicker than we were,” Sullivan said. “We didn't think quick. We didn't act quick.”

A power-play goal from Mika Zibanejad in the middle of the first period helped slightly weather the Canadiens’ storm, but the Rangers still struggled to generate offense and contain Montreal’s speed through the opening 20 minutes. 

In the second period, the Rangers suddenly flipped a switch. 

The Rangers completely transformed from a defensive standpoint, staying true to a defensively-oriented game that Sullivan has tried to instill. 

New York showed a level of physicality that we have simply not seen in what feels like ages, headlined by Sam Carrick’s hit on Lane Hudson and fight against Arber Xhekaj.

“I think we were quicker to close,” Zibanejad said of the Rangers’ defensive improvements. “I think we're just a little bit more aggressive. I thought we did a better job of that in the second and third.”

It was in the third period when the floodgates finally burst wide open for the Rangers. 

After multiple games of offensive frustration from a lack of scoring, the Blueshirts tallied a barrage of goals. 

Within a span of less than 10 minutes, J.T. Miller scored on the power play to tie the game, Matthew Robertson recorded his first NHL goal, giving the Rangers the lead, and Artemi Panarin finally got onto the scoresheet with a goal of his own. 

There was so much talk of the Rangers’ scoring slump, as it seemed like it would last an eternity. 

It would have been easy for the Blueshirts to panic and drastically change their style of play, but instead, they believed in themselves and stayed true to their identity in every sense of the word. 

Despite hearing all of the constant noise about their scoring woes, the team continued to put forth a positive message, and that mindset helped them overcome this dreadful slump. 

Mike Sullivan Isn't Surprised About Martin St. Louis' Rise To Coaching Fame Mike Sullivan Isn't Surprised About Martin St. Louis' Rise To Coaching Fame Mike Sullivan is set to go head-to-head against Martin St. Louis in what should be an entertaining coaching chess match when the New York <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-rangers/">Rangers</a> take on the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.

“I mean, it was really easy just to kind of feel sorry for ourselves for the past few games,” said Zibanejad. “I feel like because we've been getting our looks, just because we've been playing the way we've been playing. I think there's a belief in this group that we're right there.”

Based on the Rangers’ mental and internal struggles last season, it could have been safe to assume they would fall through that same path of misery and despair. 

However, with Sullivan running the show, the Rangers showed a different identity and sense of strong mental toughness. 

Maybe it’s early on in the 2025-26 campaign, but this win means more than just the two points the Rangers earned. 

“I thought it was a real gutsy effort by the guys,” Sullivan said. “When you go through some of the early adversity that we've gone through here, that game could have gone south fast… I just give the guys a lot of credit. 

“I think you'll learn about your group when you go through experiences like this. What we learned is that we've got a high character group in there that there's a certain resilience to them that I think is admirable and necessary to win this league, so couldn't be more proud of them.”

The Rangers will be back in action on Monday night against the Minnesota Wild.

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Rangers score three third-period goals, hold on for 4-3 win over Canadiens

MONTREAL (AP) — Artemi Panarin had a goal and three assists as the New York Rangers rallied to beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 on Saturday night.

Mika Zibanejad had a goal and an assist, J.T. Miller also scored and Matthew Robertson got his first NHL goal for the Rangers. Adam Fox had two assists and Jonathan Quick finished with 21 saves to help New York improve to 3-0-1 on the road this season.

Juraj Slafkovsky and Nick Suzuki scored in the opening 3:42 of the game for Montreal, and Noah Dobson had a goal midway through the third period after the Rangers had taken a two-goal lead. Sam Montembeault had 18 saves as the Canadiens snapped a four-game win streak.

Zibanejad got the Rangers on the scoreboard with a power-play goal with 8:04 left in the opening period.

New York then scored three times in the first 5:51 of the third to take a 4-2 lead.

Miller tied it 34 seconds into the period and Robertson put the Rangers ahead for good at 4:11 in the young defenseman’s sixth career game. Panarin made it a two-goal lead 1:40 later.

Montreal recalled Owen Beck on an emergency basis before the game and fellow center Joe Veleno also made his season debut after the team announced injuries to Kaiden Guhle, Patrik Laine and Kirby Dach earlier in the day.

Panarin now has 33 points (eight goals, 25 assists) in 24 career games against the Canadiens.

Up next

Rangers: Host Minnesota on Monday to open a two-game homestand.

Canadiens: Host Buffalo on Monday to finish a four-game homestand.

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Takeaways From Nashville Predators Loss In Winnipeg

Oct 16, 2025; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens center Nick Suzuki (14) plays the puck against Nashville Predators left wing Michael Bunting (58) during the third period at Bell Centre. David Kirouac-Imagn Images

The Nashville Predators concluded their four-game Canadian road trip Saturday night in Winnipeg against a Jets team that came into the game winners of their last three.

Whether that was a factor, or a case of fatigue after playing four games in six days, the Jets made things look easy with a 4-1 win at Canadian Life Centre.

“Not a good first period by us,” Preds Captain Roman Josi said following the game. ”[We] kind of came out sleepy. They were definitely the better team."

It was by far the Predators' most lethargic performance of the young season, dropping their record to 2-2-2.

Mark Scheifele scored a power-play goal, former Pred Nino Niederreiter scored another and Logan Stanley put the game away for the Jets. Vladislav Namestnikov added the final Jets goal, while Michael Bunting lit the lamp for the only Preds goal.

Scheifele put the Jets on top 1-0 with a power-play goal at 2:39 of the opening period off a setup from Kyle Connor. Scheifele set a new Jets/Atlanta Thrashers franchise record for total points with the tally.

Former Predator Nino Niederreiter increased the Jets lead to 2-0 at 10:25 of the first from a Vladislav Namestnikov pass. Stanley increased the lead to 3-0 with his second goal of the season at the 5:26 mark of the third. Namestnikov scored Winnipeg's final tally, also on the power play, at 16:52.

Bunting scored the lone goal for Nashville at the 18:56 mark of the final frame.

Here are takeaways from the game.

New Look, Same Results

NHL Nashville Predators defense Nick Blankenburg.&nbsp;© Ryan Sun-Imagn Images

Jonathan Marchessault sat out Saturday night’s game with a lower-body injury. Preds head coach Andrew Brunette inserted Nick Blankenburg into the lineup for his season debut.

Blankenburg not only saw action at both defense and forward in an 11-forward, seven-defensemen look, but quarterbacked the power-play first unit.

The Preds were looking for any sign of life from a unit that was 2-for-19 coming into the game. The first and second units had some good looks and even a 5-on-3 opportunity, but once again failed in execution to get the final shot in the net.

During one power-play sequence in the second period, the Preds have several good shots, but Jets netminder Connor Hellebuyck was up to the task. At one point in the period, the Preds had a 7-1 shots-on-goal advantage on Winnipeg, six coming on power plays.

On the night, the Preds went 0-for-4 with the man advantage, continuing a disturbing trend.

Even the penalty-kill unit, which hadn't allowed a single 5-on-4 goal coming into the game, gave up two to the Jets, who went 2-for-3 on the power play.

The Offense Has Hit A Wall

After four goals each in Ottawa and Toronto to start the four-game road trip, the Predators offense has faltered, managing just three goals over the last two games.

Coming into Saturday, Erik Haula (2g-2a), Jonathan Marchessault (2g-2a) and Roman Josi (1g-3a) all have four points through five games, followed by Perbix (2g-1a), Filip Forsberg (1g-2a) and Luke Evangelista (3a) with three points apiece.

Marchessault is currently out of the lineup, Stamkos has only one goal through six games and Evangelista is still looking to light the lamp for the first time this season. Even Forsberg, who led the team in scoring last season, has fallen silent.

“We’ve got to keep building,” Josi said. “We’ve got to have better starts than we did today. And then we’ve got to find a way to score some goals… Our defense has been good. I think we still have a lot of potential offensively… The power play has to be better. We played well in the last two periods, but we’ve got to just find a way.”

There were some spurts against the Jets. Hellebuyck was tested on two different occasions in the second period Saturday, but slammed the door each time. The Preds outshot Winnipeg 15-4 in the period.

Bunting's goal broke Hellebuyck's shutout. Other than that moral victory, the net might as well be a brick wall.

Brunette, while pointing out the inconsistencies of the team's play, nevertheless felt the four-game road trip had some positive things to build on.

“Well, I think you see the images of when we play a certain way, and it's a good picture,” Brunette said. “So, for us going forward, we need to be a little bit more consistent with that right from the puck drop. And for the most part, through this trip, we have been. So, to me, it was a good road trip."

Michael McCarron Drops The Gloves

Oct 16, 2025; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Nashville Predators right wing Michael McCarron (47) plays the puck against the Montreal Canadiens during the second period at Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images

If all else fails, fight.

The Predators were looking for anything to provide a spark. At 8:28 of the middle frame, 6-foot-6 Michael McCarron went toe-to-toe with 6-foot-7 Logan Stanley. Both received five-minute majors for fighting.

It was great entertainment for the fans at Canadian Life Centre, but it didn’t put the puck in the net for the Predators. In fact, Stanley got the last laugh by scoring his second goal of the season for a 3-0 Jets lead in the third period.

The Predators will limp back to Bridgestone Arena to start a five-game homestand that begins Tuesday against the Anaheim Ducks.

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Blackhawks Forward Game-Time Decision vs. Ducks

Jason Dickinson (© David Banks-Imagn Images)

While speaking to reporters, including WGN's Charlie Roumeliotis, Chicago Blackhawks head coach Jeff Blashill shared that forward Jason Dickinson is dealing with a day-to-day injury.

In addition, Blashill announced that Dickinson is a game-time decision for the Blackhawks' next matchup against the Anaheim Ducks on Oct. 19. 

If Dickinson is unable to play against the Ducks, the Blackhawks will need to adjust without having their veteran center.

In five games this season with the Blackhawks so far, Dickinson has recorded one goal, two points, three blocks, four hits, and a plus-3 rating. This is after he had seven goals, 16 points, 53 blocks, and 102 hits in 59 games this past season for the Blackhawks. 

In 224 games with the Blackhawks over four seasons, Dickinson has posted 39 goals, 44 assists, 83 points, 111 penalty minutes, and 361 hits. 

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Shane Wright Scores Against Hometown Team In 100th Game As Kraken Beat Maple Leafs 4-3 In Overtime

Shane Wright skated in his 100th career NHL game tonight, doing so against his hometown team, scoring a goal and an assist as the Seattle Kraken defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 in overtime.

The Maple Leafs all night seemed to have an answer for the Kraken. Each time the Kraken scored, the Maple Leafs responded, but in the end, Josh Mahura netted the overtime winner, giving the Maple Leafs no chance to respond.

The scoring was started by Wright. Returning to Toronto, the 21-year-old opened the scoring with his second of the season and 26th of his NHL career. Wright added an assist on the Kraken's second goal of the game, bringing his career totals to 26 goals and 55 points in 100 games.

The production for the Kraken's former 2022 fourth overall pick started slowly, but this Eastern Canada road trip has boded well for him, picking up a point in each game. He began the road trip with an assist against the Montreal Canadiens, then scored his first of the season against the Ottawa Senators and then added a pair of points tonight. 

Wright was dangerous all night, finishing with five shots on goal in 16:04 of ice time. 

The Kraken have now completed half of their six-game road trip, which continues in Philadelphia on Monday. 

Kraken's Matty Beniers Off To Strong Start; Poised For Breakout CampaignKraken's Matty Beniers Off To Strong Start; Poised For Breakout CampaignIt's still early in the season, but Matty Beniers looks poised to become the NHL's next breakout star.
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Scheifele Sets Franchise Mark as Jets Beat Predators 4-1

Mark Scheifele moved into first-place on the Winnipeg Jets' all-time points scoring leaderboard as the Jets took care of business at home against the Nashville Predators on Saturday.

Scheifele scored an early first period power play goal - Winnipeg's first of the 4-1 victory against its Central Division rival - Jonathan Toews picked up two helpers, while Connor Hellebuyck turned aside 30 of the 31 shots he faced in the Jets' fourth-straight win. 

Photo by Scott Stroh

Scheifele's sixth goal of the season was his 813th career point, which surpassed former linemate and captain Blake Wheeler for the most all-time within the Jets franchise. Just 2:39 into the opening frame, Scheifele hammered home a power play one-timer, bringing the crowd to its collective. Wheeler provided a video tribute to which fans also gave Scheifele a standing ovation.

“That was really special. The fans here are incredible," he said post-game. "They give us so much extra motivation. We really do have amazing fans. I am lucky to be a part of such a tremendous organization and tremendous community and I’m very honoured to be here.”

The Jets added another tally on a Nino Niederreiter breakaway off a perfect stretch pass from Vlad Namestnikov. They ended the first period up 11-4 on the shot chart and held onto a 2-0 lead.

The middle stanza saw another strong outing from Winnipeg's penalty kill. Four chintzy penalties against the home team gave Nashville a hefty edge in shots, as the Predators put up 16 to Winnipeg's four. Connor Hellebuyck and the defenders stood tall, holding their 2-0 lead through 40 minutes. 

After throwing down with Michael McCarron in a second period tilt, Logan Stanley found his way onto the score sheet in the third period. He hammered home a heavy 94 MPH slap shot from the point, bulging the twine behind Saros, and putting the game out of reach for Nashville.

"Yeah. Obviously, when we lost Samberg, everybody would have to stand up and I think that he's done that," head coach Scott Arniel said of Stanley. "I think that, when you get a little bit more ice time, you've got to take advantage of it. He's trying to make it hard on us as a staff, when Sammy comes back. You have to present the opportunity and it's theirs to go and take and make the most of it and he's done that."

Toews earned his second assist of the game on a power play nifty feed to Namestnikov, who scored Winnipeg's second goal of the game on the man advantage, making it 4-0. 

“It’s great. If you don’t play games for as long as he did, it’ll obviously take a lot of time," Scheifele added. "But I think he’s gotten better every game. Talking to him, I know he just wants to continue to grow, continue to get better and learn and he’s a big part of this team on and off the ice.”

Michael Bunting ruined Hellebuyck's bid for a shut-out as he put home a weird one off a broken stick play with just 1:04 remaining, which marked the 4-1 final.

Hellebuyck finished the night with 30 saves on the 31 Predators shots sent his way, while Saros made 20 saves on the 24 pucks delivered by Winnipeg. 

Next up for the Jets is a quick trip to Calgary, as Winnipeg will face the Flames on Monday before retuning home for back-to-back games against the Kraken and those same Flames on Thursday and Friday.