Perfetti scores in 5th straight game, Jets top Sabres

WINNIPEG – Cole Perfetti extended his goal streak to five games for the Winnipeg Jets in a 3-2 win against the Buffalo Sabres at Canada Life Centre on Friday.

Perfetti has 10 points (five goals, five assists) during an eight-game point streak.

“I put an emphasis a bit more on shooting the puck,” Perfetti said. “The puck is definitely going in the back of the net for our line and it’s working. So, we just have to keep doing what we’re doing and creating chances.”

Vladislav Namestnikov and Nino Niederreiter each had two assists, and Connor Hellebuyck made 26 saves for the Jets (9-5-2), who have won five of six.

“When you’re having an off night like that, we certainly didn’t have a whole lot of run support for [Hellebuyck], but he was there when we needed him,” Winnipeg interim coach Scott Arniel said.

Alex Tuch and JJ Peterka scored, and Eric Comrie made 15 saves for the Sabres (7-9-1), who have lost three straight.

"The third period, I will say for me, was the culmination of everything to this point of the year, and our guys finally decided to wake up and compete harder instead of waiting,” Buffalo coach Don Granato said. “I like the way they responded.”

Perfetti made it 1-0 at 2:12 of the second period, taking a drop pass from Namestnikov at the blue line and shooting from the high slot.

Mason Appleton redirected Niederreiter’s pass on top of the crease to make it 2-0 at 4:33.

“After our 2-0 goal, we obviously want to keep the momentum going,” Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers said. “I think we've let in a few goals after being up 2-0, right after the goal. We want to try and get away from that obviously and get a bigger lead.”

Tuch cut it to 2-1 23 seconds later when he found a rebound in the slot at 4:56.

“I think tonight, we had a lot more conviction than we’ve had in past games this year,” Tuch said. “It’s a standard that we have to keep ourselves to. We can’t wait for it to happen or wait to get down a goal or wait to get fired up by the coach or captain or whoever’s talking on the bench. We have to go out there and find it within ourselves. You know what? Guys have to elevate. If you’re not going to elevate this early in the season, then why do it all?”

Ehlers extended the lead to 3-1 at 8:12 when he threw a long shot from the blue line that found the top corner behind a screened Comrie.

“Classic hockey goal. Very well-rehearsed and practiced and exactly how we wanted it,” Ehlers said sarcastically.

“At first it was going well over the net, and it kind of just dipped at the end. Every time you try to put the puck to the net, you are hoping it goes in, but I was just kind of trying to be the safety net for [Jets defenseman Brenden Dillon] because the puck was bouncing a little bit. And, well, luckily it jumped over his stick.”

Winnipeg scored all three goals on five shots in the second period.

“When you go 11 minutes without a shot in the second period, you’ve got to simplify things a little bit,” Arniel said. “We did score those goals and they kind of came off transition, but you’ve got to give Buffalo credit. They were real good at stealing pucks, knocking pucks out of the air. If you take your time and think you’re going to have some space to skate and make an easy play, they close it off really quick. It wasn’t pretty, but it was two points. We’ll move on to tomorrow.”

Peterka scored on a breakaway at 1:00 of the third period, converting on his own rebound for the 3-2 final.

“It’s tough to win games with only two goals,” Tuch said. “I think in this league, it’s becoming more offensive, so we’ve got to find ways to score. I thought Hellebuyck played really well, but I thought we carried most of the pace, most of the tempo out there. It was good to see. I think we did it a little bit late, though. I think we can still start a little bit more on time.”

NOTES: Perfetti (21 years, 320 days) became the second player in Jets/Atlanta Thrashers history to have a five-game goal streak at age 21 or younger. The other is Patrik Laine, who did it three times. … With his 246th NHL win, Hellebuyck tied Jimmy Howard for eighth among United States-born goaltenders. … Ehlers has four points (three goals, one assist) during a three-game point streak. … Namestnikov has four assists in a three-game point streak. … Jets forwards Kyle Connor (seven goals, four assists), and Mark Scheifele (one goal, eight assists) each had a four-game point streak end. ... Rasmus Dahlin tied Rasmus Ristolainen (245) for sixth on Buffalo’s all-time points list among defensemen. ... Peterka has 10 points (five goals, five assists) in his past 10 games.