Laine's two goals lift Jets over Stars

DALLAS, Texas - The Winnipeg Jets made sure their first road trip in almost a month was one to remember.
The Jets won for the second straight night, even after giving up the game's first goal just 10 seconds into the contest. After that, the road team scored five unanswered goals and silenced another sold out arena, this time at American Airlines Center in Dallas, with a 5-3 triumph.

Michael Hutchinson made 33 saves to stay unbeaten in two starts in the NHL this season. Hutchinson was making his first appearance since Jan. 30, which was a victory over league-leading Tampa Bay Lightning.
"A quick one 10 seconds in, but I thought we were pretty good (after that)," said Head Coach Paul Maurice. "We played a pretty smart rest of the first and didn't try and get it right back."
The victory pulls the Jets into a tie with the Nashville for first in the Central Division, though the Predators do hold two games in hand. After beating the Blues and Stars on back-to-back nights, the Jets will finish up a trio of divisional affairs on Tuesday when they host those very same Predators back at Bell MTS Place.

"Two important games against teams who are trying to claw back into the race," said Blake Wheeler. "Our division is so tight that you just can't take any of these games for granted. We've been at home for a long time and it was important for us try and build that (road) game, build some confidence, and I thought we did a pretty good job of that."
Dustin Byfuglien had another strong outing with three assists and earned some strong praise as well.
"I would think Dustin Byfuglien was the best player on the ice tonight," said Maurice. "He has been for a couple of weeks. He was really good for a long period of time, (but) not putting any numbers up. Now he's doing both (playing well offensively and defensively). It's the best hockey I've ever seen him play."
Just 10 seconds into the game, Mark Scheifele lost a faceoff to Radek Faksa, which allowed Tyler Pitlick to whip a quick wrist shot glove side on Hutchinson, who had no chance. Pitlick's marker was the only goal in the opening period.
"The first period was a little chaotic trying to get used to the traffic and speed of the game," said Hutchinson, who was playing his first game after suffering a concussion during a Feb. 6 practice. "It's tough not getting a real practice in, so I think my heart rate was 150 and it took a while to get my lungs back in the first period.
"After that I settled in and was feeling good and making good reads."
The Jets took over the game in the second period.
They evened things up just 49 seconds into the middle frame when Byfuglien carried the puck up the ice dropped it to Ehlers, who walked into the slot and blasted a slap shot past Kari Lehtonen for his 24th of the season.
The Jets had a chance to take a 2-1 lead at 2:46 when Laine was given a penalty shot - the first attempt of the year for any Winnipeg player. Laine skated in and shot low blocker side, but Lehtonen got a piece of with his right pad to keep it tied.
At 6:33, Jack Roslovic evaded a Dallas defender and skated across the Stars blue line, dropping it for Enstrom who scored his first of the season to make it 2-1. It was Enstrom's first goal since Nov. 3, 2016, and he had a huge smile on his face heading to the Jets bench to celebrate.

"It was awesome. Toby doesn't care about that kind of stuff, though," explained Wheeler, who has been a longtime teammate of Enstrom's going back to their days in Atlanta. "When I was in Atlanta he was an all-star running the first unit power play type of guy. He's embraced a different role for the good of the team. You probably saw his face; didn't matter to him one way or the other, but he was fired up to put one in for the boys."
The Jets extended their lead on the power play at 8:01, as Wheeler pushed his point streak to eight games, feeding Scheifele in the slot with a nifty three-foot pass. No. 55 made no mistake, firing it home for his 19th of the year to make it 3-1.

Less than five minutes later, the Jets chased Lehtonen from the game. Ehlers dropped a beautiful pass onto Laine's stick and his quick release got past the Stars goaltender for his 30th goal and a 4-1 lead.

Ben Bishop replaced Lehtonen after the starter gave up four goals on 21 shots.
Bishop then allowed a goal on the first shot he faced at 18:47. Laine scored his second of the night again on a feed from Ehlers to make it a four-goal advantage for the Jets.
Laine now has 31 goals on the year.
Forty seconds after the Laine tally, Tyler Seguin closed the gap back to three when he one timed an Alex Radulov pass under the crossbar for his 31st of the year, and a goal-filled second period came to a close with Winnipeg leading 5-2.
Radulov scored a goal with under a minute left in the game but it was too little too late for Dallas, who now trails Winnipeg by nine points in the Central.
- Jamie Thomas, WinnipegJets.com