Laine, Scheifele boost Jets past Golden Knights

WINNIPEG --Patrik Laine and Mark Scheifele each had a goal and two assists to lift the Winnipeg Jets to a 7-4 win against the Vegas Golden Knights at Bell MTS Place on Friday.
Rookie Kyle Connor scored two goals, and Blake Wheeler had three assists for the Jets (16-6-4), who are in first place in the Western Conference.

"I don't think that we've peaked," Wheeler said. "I think we have a way to go. Our team, we're learning how to play fast and kind of on the fly and I think we can play faster. With the way the League is going, that's an exciting thing. There's no back-slapping. We're enjoying winning, which is kind of new to our group, but we're not fitting ourselves for rings or anything like that."
WATCH: [All Golden Knights vs. Jets highlights]
Connor Hellebuyck made 27 saves. He is 5-0-0 this season after losing his previous start (3-2 in overtime to the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday).
Winnipeg was 3-for-5 on the power play.
Cody Eakin, William Karlsson, Erik Haula and Colin Miller scored for the Golden Knights (15-9-1), who have lost three games in a row. Maxime Lagace allowed six goals on 37 shots.
"We can't sit back on our heels," Vegas forward Alex Tuch said. "When we forecheck, I think we're one of the best forechecking teams when we are forechecking with five men. But if we only have one, two or three forechecking guys at a time, it doesn't work, honestly. It has to be a connected unit. That's what made us so successful at the beginning of the season."
Defenseman Tyler Myers scored on the power play to give the Jets a 1-0 lead at 4:49 of the first period, his point shot deflecting off Miller's stick.
Eakin batted the rebound of a Brendan Leipsic shot out of the air at 12:51 to tie it 1-1.
Karlsson scored his Golden Knights-leading 14th goal when he redirected Nate Schmidt's point shot at 16:49 to make it 2-1 Vegas.

Miller appeared to make it 3-1 at 9:39 of the second period, but Winnipeg coach Paul Maurice challenged, and the goal was overturned after video review when it was determined Tuch was offside.
"I think it gave them a little bit of momentum, but I think that we took some unnecessary penalties and that was really the turning point in the game," Tuch said.
Matt Hendricks tied it 2-2 at 13:21. He had left the game at 7:23 of the second after he was hit in the face by Miller's skate blade.
The teams combined for seven goals in the third period, five by Winnipeg, including three in the opening 6:16.
"I definitely don't think we were our best tonight," Miller said. "It's unacceptable."
Connor gave the Jets at 3-2 lead 33 seconds into the period when he scored a power-play goal with a one-timer from the top of the right hash marks off Laine's cross-ice feed.

Laine made it 4-2 when he scored on the power play at 2:48. It was his 12th goal of the season, first in five games.
Nikolaj Ehlers pushed the Jets lead to 5-2 at 6:16.
"We were playing really well as a line for two periods but didn't get rewarded even though we had some great chances," Laine said of himself, Wheeler and Ehlers. "Our power play was really good in the third period. [Ehlers] got a huge goal. It wasn't a very good pass from me, but he's a great scorer and he can score on that."
Haula cut the Winnipeg lead to 5-3 at 6:35, but Scheifele scored at 14:53 to make it 6-3.
Miller got the Golden Knights to within 6-4 at 16:16 before Connor scored his second of the night into the empty net at 18:52 to make it 7-4.

Goal of the game

Connor's goal 33 seconds into the third period.

Save of the game

Hellebuyck stopping Stefan Matteau's shot after it deflected off Jets defenseman Jacob Trouba at 9:33 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

Hendricks' goal at 13:21 of the second period.

They said it

"Going into that, they're great on the power play, they got really skilled guys that move the puck around really well. We knew that going in. We just need to stay out of the (penalty) box a little more, that was it. Power plays can win you the game. They thrive on theirs." -- Golden Knights forward James Neal
"It was scary, obviously, to get a skate high like that and see blood. It wasn't terrible. Guys have come back and played with a lot worse injuries than that. I'm lucky it's not as bad as it could be, just happy to get back out there." -- Jets forward Matt Hendricks on getting hit in the face by Golden Knights defenseman Colin Miller's skate blade in the second period

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Need to know

Golden Knights defenseman Deryk Engelland did not play after he sustained an undisclosed injury blocking a shot in a 4-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Thursday.

What's next

Golden Knights:Host the Arizona Coyotes on Sunday (8 p.m. ET; ATTSN-RM, FS-A, NHL.TV)
Jets:Host the Ottawa Senators on Sunday (7 p.m. ET; TVA Sports, SN, NHL.TV)