Jets close five-game homestand with win over Coyotes

WINNIPEG — Mark Scheifele is feeling good about himself and looking to grow his game more.

The Jets assistant captain had a goal and two assists in leading Winnipeg to a 5-2 victory over the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday night. Scheifele is now up to 12 points (two goals, 10 assists) in his last six contests.

“I’m just going to continue to work on my game,” he said. “I feel good, a lot of good thoughts on my mind of what to work on in practice. You just have to keep it going.

"There is always growth in the game. There is never any complacency, and you just need to continue wanting to work. That’s my thought. I like my game, and I just want to keep growing it.”

Kyle Connor, with his league-leading 14th goal, Josh Morrissey, Vladislav Namestnikov and Mason Appleton, an empty-net goal, also scored for Winnipeg (10-5-2).

Laurent Brossoit made 16 saves before 12,103 fans at Canada Life Centre.

“I’m just trying to be as lethal as I can, I guess, in the offensive zone,” Connor said. “Being a little more versatile as well and just try to score in as many different ways that I can.”

The victory allowed the Jets to conclude their five-game homestand with a 4-1-0 record.

“In this league, every team is tough to beat and everybody has their different things that they like to throw at you,” said Jets coach Scott Arniel. “Our group, right now, is confident and we’re doing a lot of really good things, and we’re a hard team to play against.”

Matt Dumba and Matias Maccelli replied for Arizona (8-7-2). Karel Vejmelka stopped 21-of-25 shots.

“I’m really happy about our effort,” said Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny. “I’m really happy about our mindset defensively, our mindset away from the puck. That was really good.

"The only part of the game that I did not like was the way that we played in the offensive zone when we have possession of the puck. I liked our forecheck but, when we are in possession, I did not like that fact that we were trying for an extra play.

"Our D took four shots on net tonight. That means there was not enough chaos around their net — rebounds, deflections and stuff like that.”

Morrissey gave Winnipeg a 4-2 edge 4:15 into the third period, converting a pass from Scheifele on a 2-on-1 to beat Vejmelka.

Appleton sealed it with an empty-netter with 2:30 remaining.

Connor scored 11:26 into the middle frame, taking a quick pass from Scheifele and sniping a shot over Vejmelka’s right shoulder to put the Jets ahead 3-2.

Dumba knotted the score at 2-2 after deflecting a perfect pass from Travis Boyd past Brossoit at 6:08 of the second period.

The Jets rebounded from a 1-0 deficit with a pair of goals just 58 seconds apart in the opening frame.

Scheifele scored on a backhanded shot at the 17:04 mark to tie things up.

Namestnikov followed by beating Vejmelka to the puck behind the goal, then banking a shot into the vacated net off Arizona's Lawson Crouse, who was in front.

Maccelli opened the scoring, capping off a nifty passing play 14:53 into the first period. He converted on a pass from J.J. Moser, who found Maccelli alone at the side of an empty net.

NOTES

Morrissey's first-period assist was the 200th of his NHL career, which makes him the third defenceman in franchise history to reach that milestone behind Dustin Byfuglien (294) and Toby Enstrom (254). … Brossoit made the 100th start of his NHL career Saturday.

UP NEXT

The Jets will head to Tampa Bay to face the Lightning in the first of a three-game road trip on Wednesday.

The Coyotes return home to play the Los Angeles Kings on Monday in the first of a seven-game homestand.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 18, 2023.