Laine scores twice as Jets double up Vegas

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -It was a memorable Friday night in Vegas for the Winnipeg Jets.
Coming off a disappointing loss in Colorado to open the road trip, the Jets were firing on all cylinders at T-Mobile Arena, leading to a 6-3 win over the Golden Knights.
Patrik Laine scored twice - his first in 15 games - while Nikolaj Ehlers, playing his first game since Jan. 4, scored on his first shift. Kyle Connor, Adam Lowry, and Andrew Copp also scored in the victory.
It all adds up to Winnipeg's first win on Vegas ice.
"There wouldn't be any part of our game that I didn't like tonight. The power play, two huge goals, our penalty kill was outstanding in its effort. Connor (Hellebuyck) made a fantastic save at the end and our gap was right," said head coach Paul Maurice.

"We've got a real fine captain and good leadership in that room. They were wired right from the start."

Blake Wheeler was one of six Jets to record multiple points to help Winnipeg retake the Central Division lead with a 37-20-4 record.
"Everyone did the right things when they needed to," said Wheeler. "We talked about it before the game, everyone was going to have a dirty job at some point of this game. When it's your turn, you have to step up and make the play. From the goaltender out, everyone had a piece of that one."
Ehlers wasted no time making an impact in his first game since Jan. 4. His line with Connor and Bryan Little took the second shift of the game and 56 seconds into the period, Ehlers pounced on a rebound just outside the Vegas crease and scored.
"You're pumped up to be back and you get on the ice, you skate down and go to the net and it comes right to you. It's a pretty good feeling," said Ehlers. "As a line and as a team, we all did that tonight."

Maurice got that line out again quickly and it paid off. As 32 seconds later, Connor benefitted from a turnover on the right-side boards - the result of a Sami Niku pinch - and went short side and over the glove of Marc-Andre Fleury to put the Jets up 2-0.
"We came out with a lot of speed. We did what we did best and what we do best. That's using our speed as much as we could and got pucks to the net. It worked," Ehlers aid of his line.
"We know we needed to bounce back. That last game, we thought about it, we dealt with it in the right way. It feels good to get the win tonight and now we just have to get ready for the next one."

Vegas responded before the end of the period though. Pierre-Edouard Bellemare took a pass from Tomas Nosek in the slot and snapped his fifth of the season past Connor Hellebuyck, cutting the Jets lead to 2-1.
Then with 11:51 left in the second Vegas pulled even. Shea Theodore's point shot beat a screened Hellebuyck over the right shoulder.
It stayed that way until the last minute of the second period. A Reilly Smith hooking penalty put the Jets on the power play and Wheeler found Laine for a back door one-timer. The Finnish sniper made no mistake and hammered home his 26th of the season, his first in 15 games.
"It's been a while so I didn't know how to react. It was a great pass from Wheels and even I'm not going to miss that again," said Laine. "I was just battling as hard as I can. This was probably one of the best games I've seen in a while from me. Just tried to play hard with those two guys. They're a couple of world class players those two."

Laine's goal came with 31 seconds to go in the middle frame, but the Jets weren't done. Ben Chiarot put a puck toward the net and Adam Lowy whacked home the loose puck in front to restore Winnipeg's two-goal lead with 3.7 seconds left in the period.
But Jonathan Marchessault's 20th of the season eight seconds into the third made it a one-goal game again.
An extended 5-on-3 power play gave the Jets a chance to get that one back. From the high slot, Wheeler once again found Laine in the left circle for a one-timer, and once again, it found the back of the net.
Laine's second of the night made it 5-3 Jets. The power play finished with two goals on four chances.
"We needed to get the power play going. That's going to be huge for us in the future. It's also my responsibility to put the puck in the net if I get the chance," Laine said, adding he liked how his line with Scheifele and Wheeler played at even strength as well.
"Overall in all ends of the ice I think we played good against one of the highest scoring lines in the league… I liked my game, I liked my line mates' game as well. I'll try to build off this game."

Copp's empty net marker with 1:25 left in regulation rounded out the scoring.
The Jets now head to Arizona to finish the three-game road trip against the Coyotes on Sunday.