Connor gets natural hat trick in 6:38 span, Jets cruise past Canucks

WINNIPEG -- Kyle Connor scored a natural hat trick in a 6:38 span in the first period, and the Winnipeg Jets cruised to a 6-1 win against the Vancouver Canucks at Canada Life Centre on Tuesday.

“The recipient of a nice pass on the first one from Gabe [Vilardi], and then the next just kind of being in the right spot where the bounces just seem to be going the right way,” Connor said. “Especially early. We’ve had those nights, like the other night, where we’re hitting posts and they’re not going in. So (tonight was) just one of those nights where I was able to bury a couple.”

Connor also had an assist, and Mark Scheifele, Nino Niederreiter and Neal Pionk each had a goal and an assist for the Jets (30-12-3), who have points in four straight (3-0-1) and are the first team in the NHL to reach 30 wins. Connor Hellebuyck made 23 saves, and Vilardi had three assists.

“You’re just seeing a guy (in Connor) that’s super confident in his game, his shot, his stickhandling tonight on that breakaway,” Winnipeg forward Cole Perfetti said. “You just see a guy that’s in complete control. He’s not second guessing himself. He obviously has a very high ability to score goals and he’s got that knack for it. When he gets those chances, he doesn’t get excited or anything. He’s just calm and collected.”

Connor’s 26 goals are tied with Scheifele for third-most in the NHL.

“[Connor’s] shot is unbelievable,” Perfetti said. “Like tonight; you see he has the shots, the breakaways, the nice hands, the rebounds, the nice catch on his forehand and backhand, stuff like that. He can just score in so many different ways. It’s a treat to watch.”

Nils Hoglander scored for the Canucks (19-14-10), who have lost five of six (1-3-2). Kevin Lankinen made 27 saves.

“I didn't mind the start,” Vancouver coach Rick Tocchet said. “We're just missing early. And then all of a sudden, bang-bang, miscommunication. We don't reload properly. And then obviously the last half of the game, a little bit of fumbling around. But yeah, (Winnipeg is) a good hockey team, they skate well, very good. That’s a fast team.”

Connor gave the Jets a 1-0 lead at 6:59 when Lankinen, while playing the puck behind his net, turned it over to Vilardi in the right corner who then found Connor in front for a tap in.

“They turned the puck over and it was a bang-bang play, right in the back of the net,” Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said. “I liked a lot of what we did in that first period. We got off to playing our game right away and it certainly was the difference.”

Connor’s second and third goals came 36 seconds apart. He made it 2-0 at 13:01, finding Pionk’s rebound in the slot and scoring on the backhand, then pushed it to 3-0 at 13:37 when he deked around Lankinen on a breakaway before putting the puck in at the left post.

“It’s tough when you go down 3-0 after one and then, obviously, five after two,” Canucks captain Quinn Hughes said. “You can’t just look at the start… I would say the whole 60 (minutes).”

Pionk’s one-timer from the right point through traffic pushed it to 4-0 just 39 seconds into the second period, and Niederreiter made it 5-0 at 15:06 when he banked the puck off the back of Lankinen’s leg and in from a tight angle below the right circle.

“We’ve definitely matured in that aspect, where you’ve got to be able to play the game in front of you but knowing that every single night you can play that shutdown,” Connor said. “Not giving other teams much, kind of keep them to the outside, and the shots they are getting are hopefully not as many Grade-A’s as we get, and that’s kind of your foundation. And then you can respond and the offence will come.”

Nikolaj Ehlers found Scheifele for a one-timer from the slot to make it 6-0 at 1:31 of the third on the power play.

“Obviously we didn’t play well, but we didn’t have guys quitting,” Vancouver forward Conor Garland said. “You’re down to a good team, we fought back. They’re not going to give you much. They have some great defensemen and some really good defensive forwards that are going to be above you all night. You’ve got to fight to score against that team. That’s why they’re one of the top of the standings. You just can’t give it to them like that; three (goals) right off the bat.”

Hoglander cut it to 6-1 at 9:16, taking the puck from Jets defenseman Logan Stanley and beating Hellebuyck with a snap shot from the right face-off dot.

“It's hard to be consistent, right?” Tocchet said. “It's hard to do the right things all the time. It’s hard. It's hard to go through people, it's hard to serve properly, it's hard to reload properly. It’s hard to get the pucks out when you need to do it, it’s hard to take pucks to the net. And you can't do it once in a while if you want to be a good team. That’s what it is… I mean, it's my job. I’ve got to get the guys committed. It’s on me.”

NOTES: Connor’s sixth NHL hat trick surpassed Ehlers for the fourth-most in Jets/Thrashers history. … Connor’s first NHL natural hat trick came 13:37 into the game. The only faster instance to begin a game in Jets/Thrashers history is Sean Monahan on Feb. 19, 2024 (11:24), which also marked the last natural hat trick by any Jets player. … Connor’s ninth NHL four-point game ties Vyacheslav Kozlov for the fourth-most in Jets/Thrashers history. He trails Ilya Kovalchuk (20), Blake Wheeler (13) and Scheifele (12). … Hellebuyck’s 302nd career win passes Mike Richter for the sixth-most by a U.S.-born goaltender in NHL history. He trails Jonathan Quick (399), Ryan Miller (391), John Vanbiesbrouck (374), Tom Barrasso (369) and Craig Anderson (319). … Canucks defenseman Filip Hronek had three hits and two blocked shots in 20:50 of ice time in his first game since Nov. 27.