Jets close road trip with win over Senators

OTTAWA - No late game heroics from the Winnipeg Jets were needed on Thursday.
Nikolaj Ehlers opened the scoring 11:50 into the first period - marking the first time the Jets held a lead during regulation time this season - and the team only built on that the rest of the way, earning a 4-1 win over the Ottawa Senators.
Ehlers, Mark Scheifele, Adam Lowry, and Blake Wheeler scored for the Jets (3-1-0), who have now won two in a row.
"We got off to a good start tonight. It was nice to get the first goal to play with the lead for a little bit tonight," said Wheeler, who said the loss to Toronto to start the road trip was a wake-up call for the group.
"That was a good learning experience. A reminder of how hard this league is and how hard you have to play night in and night out to have a chance to win."

The only dent in a near perfect night for the Jets was Connor Hellebuyck coming within three minutes of a shutout. It was broken by Chris Tierney with 2:57 to go in regulation.
While the reigning Vezina Trophy winner was only slightly upset that one beat him, he was happier his team pulled out another win.
I played almost a perfect game, then a guy shoots one wide and that's what happens. I don't really care how it goes in, I just don't want it to go in," said Hellebuyck, who praised his teammates for their play in front of him. "For me, I liked the team game and we got a win. I'll be able to shake it off, but it would've been nice to see a goose egg up there."

For the first time this season, the Winnipeg Jets opened the scoring. It came from the duo that won them the game two nights earlier: Andrew Copp and Nikolaj Ehlers.
Copp gained the zone and left it for Ehlers, who had some space on the left wing high in the Ottawa zone. Ehlers, the overtime hero from Tuesday night, made use of that space, moving into the high slot and firing a low shot through the legs of Matt Murray to put the Jets up 1-0.
The trio of Ehlers, Copp, and Paul Stastny combined for three points and 11 shots on goal.
"The Stastny line with Copper and Nik was great," said Wheeler. "They could have had a number of goals tonight. They were all over it all night. It was a great adjustment by the coaching staff and those guys took advantage of it."

Ehlers would factor into Winnipeg's second goal just 4:22 into the second. His pass from below the goal line found Kyle Connor in the slot and, quickly, Connor found Mark Scheifele just off the left post. Scheifele tucked it past Murray for his second of the season to make it 2-0 for the visitors.
Head coach Paul Maurice liked the consistency he saw from every line that came off the bench, even after Nate Thompson left the game with a lower-body injury after the first period.
"We were very consistent in the style of play," said Maurice. "That would be the piece of the game I liked the most. All four lines, all the D pairs, had almost a single mindset of how they were going to play. Everybody looked good doing it."

Speaking of looking good, Hellebuyck factored into that second goal as well. He stopped Cedric Paquette who was in alone behind the Jets defence just seconds before the puck went back the other way.
"He's quite the luxury to have back there. We certainly feel he's the top goaltender in the league. He certainly showed that last year," Wheeler said.
"It was a great performance by him tonight."
Although two goals ended up being enough, especially with Hellebuyck making saves like that one, the Jets added more insurance.
Only 2:43 after Scheifele's goal, Derek Forbort sent an indirect pass from the Jets end to Trevor Lewis up the right-wing side. Lewis got a step on the Ottawa defender and cut to the net, but his backhand went off the post. Adam Lowry was there to tuck home the loose puck to increase the lead to 3-0.
It was Lewis' first point as a Jet.
Before the end of the period, Connor fed Scheifele just inside the Ottawa zone and, without hesitating, Scheifele whipped a pass through Senators' defenceman Erik Gudbranson to Blake Wheeler who was in alone on Murray. Wheeler made no mistake, slipping a backhand past Murray's extended right leg to make it 4-0 Winnipeg.

Tierney's goal with 2:57 left may have broke Hellebuyck's shutout, but it couldn't put a damper on a successful road trip for the Jets.
This was exactly the type of game Maurice wants his team to build off heading into a seven-game home stand, which begins Saturday against Ottawa.
It's a game Maurice expects to have some intensity to it, especially after 22 minutes in penalties were handed out with four minutes left in the game.
"When you get beat 4-1 at home and the other team was pretty good, you're sending a message for that next game," said Maurice. "That's fine. It was a bit of a scrum and some name calling. It will fire it up for next game."
ICE CHIPS
Ville Heinola made his season debut paired with Josh Morrissey. Heinola had 14:22 of ice time and a shot on goal.
Maurice noticed Heinola was a bit bigger and quicker, but he was still the same incredible puck mover that the Jets head coach remembered.
"He makes a lot of little tiny inside plays to forwards. Our forwards did a real nice job supporting him, but at the same time he made a lot of smart decisions with the puck," said Maurice. "That passing skill he has is special. He didn't have to rely on physicality down low because we were out of the zone. He was really strong tonight."
Jets forward Nate Thompson left the game after the first period with a lower-body injury and didn't return. Maurice said something "tightened" up on the forward - in that it wasn't a particular hit that caused the injury - and that Thompson is day-to-day.