Jets show some fight in Utah but lose 5-3

The Utah Mammoth scored two goals 26 seconds apart in the early stages of the third period to take a 4-1 lead and hung on to beat the Winnipeg Jets 5-3. The Jets finish the season 16=19-6 on the road, Mark Scheifele (1G, 1A), Kyle Connor (1G, 1A) and Gabe Vilardi (2A) had multi-point nights and Isak Rosén scored the other goal for Winnipeg. The Jets will wrap up their season on home ice on Thursday night when they host the San Jose Sharks.

LEANING ON COMRIE

Eric Comrie had been sensational since the start of 2026 going 6-0 since his last defeat which came on January 1. Connor Hellebuyck started 10 straight games before handing the net back to Comrie this evening in Utah, and he was the reason why the Jets were even in the hockey game through 40 minutes when the Mammoth outshot Winnipeg 29-11. Natural Stat Trick said that the Mammoth held a 12-4 edge in high danger scoring chances at 5v5 after two periods. That being said, the Mammoth took over in the third period scoring twice in a span of 26 seconds to take a 4-1 lead. The 30-year-old ended the night with 31 saves and saw his six-game win streak come to an end plus his streak of recording a .900 or better save percentage also ended.

KC AND SCHEIF SCORE AGAIN

With the Jets trailing 2-0 thanks mainly to the performance by Comrie, Winnipeg pulled within one while on the power play and the shots at 29-9. Mark Scheifele entered the Mammoth zone, hit Gabe Vilardi with a pass and Vilardi spotted a streaking Kyle Connor up the middle, Connor’s first shot was stopped by Karel Vejmelka, but the Jets forward scored his 39^th on the rebound. The 29-year-old is now one goal away from his second consecutive 40-goal campaign and the third of his career.

Off to the third period, and Winnipeg was down two goals again, Mark Scheifele had the puck roll off his stick in the neutral zone, but MacKenzie Weegar blew a tire inside the Mammoth blue line and that allowed Scheifele to skate in alone on Vejmelka, a quick move later Scheifele made it 4-2.

FIGHTING TO THE END

The Mammoth had something to play for, hoping to lock up the top wild card spot in the Western Conference with the Kings one point behind them in the standings. But it was the Jets who made a big push in the final period, after Scheifele made it 4-2, it was Isak Rosén’s turn to produce. Off a face-off in the Mammoth zone, Rosén found the puck on his stick and he wasted no time to rip a wrist shot into the net to cut the lead to 4-3.  It was great to see the Jets show so much fight in the third period despite the fact that they ended up losing the game.

"We talked about it, we've got to play for Coms, too. He was standing on his head the whole game," said Rosén.

"And we've got to help him. I think that was one thing we did better and maybe brought us more energy in the third,"