Jets get three goals in third, defeat Blackhawks

CHICAGO -- Andrew Copp and Bryan Little scored 32 seconds apart late in the third period to help the Winnipeg Jets defeat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 at United Center on Thursday.
Mark Scheifele scored into an empty net with 2:03 remaining. The Jets scored the final three goals in a span of 2:00.

It was Winnipeg's fourth straight win against Chicago this season. Connor Hellebuyck, who made 38 saves in his first start since Jan. 13, started every game. The Jets and Blackhawks play for the final time this season on Feb. 10 in Winnipeg.
WATCH: All Jets vs. Blackhawks highlights
"[Copp's goal] was huge," Little said. "We were positive on the bench and we knew we were going to get some chances to get ourselves back in the game. Once everyone saw that one go in, I mean, you could feel the momentum switch sides."
It was the second straight game the Blackhawks lost when leading after two periods. The lost 5-2 against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday.

Prior to Tuesday, the Blackhawks (30-16-5) hadn't lost when leading after two periods in 17 games (16-0-1) and were 78-0-5 in the regular-season since the final game of 2013-14.
It was the last game for each team prior to the 2017 Honda NHL All-Star Weekend.
Copp tied the game at 3-3 at 15:57 of the third. He redirected Josh Morrissey's shot past Blackhawks goalie Scott Darling (28 saves). Little scored off the rush at 16:29, his sixth goal in the past five games.
"I think we've been doing a good job, except these last two, with closing games in the third period … especially this one," Blackhawks defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson said. "It's going to kind of ruin the break a little bit. This one's going to take a while to swallow, the way we lost this one."
Duncan Keith, Nick Schmaltz and Tanner Kero scored for the Blackhawks. Kero's goal at 16:37 of the second period put Chicago ahead 3-2. The Blackhawks had fallen behind 2-0 in the first period on goals by Patrik Laine at 6:16 and Shawn Matthias 42 seconds later.

It was the third game in a row, and fifth in the past seven, the Blackhawks allowed back-to-back goals in less than a minute.
"That's something we didn't really talk about or probably most of us didn't even know about," Little said. "For some reason we elevate our game when we play this team. We always give our best."

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Goal of the game

Little scored the game-winner with a wrist shot high to the short side. He took the shot from the right faceoff dot after receiving a short pass from defenseman Jacob Trouba.

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Save of the game

Hellebucyk made a pad save on a wrist shot by Blackhawks forward Richard Panik at 13:57 of the second period.

Unsung performance of the game

After Jets defenseman Mark Stuart and Blackhawks center Marcus Kruger collided on the left wing, Schmaltz skated in and sent a quick shot past Hellebuyck.

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Highlight of the game

Copp camped in front of the net and was able to get his stick on Morrissey's shot and redirect the puck between Darling's pads.

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They said it

"I don't really have a great explanation for you. I mean, [they're] one of the top teams in our conference perennially. It must just be a matchup thing. They must just bring out the best in us, so we always look forward to these matchups because we like to see how we stack up against the best. And they certainly are." -- Jets captain Blake Wheeler
"You certainly can't be happy. There were some positives in both games [this week], but definitely an awful taste now." -- Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville

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Need to know

Kruger (hand) returned after missing 11 games. … Dennis Rasmussen (illness) missed his first game since Nov. 21 at the Edmonton Oilers (30 games). … The Jets placed forward Mathieu Perreault on injured reserve retroactive to Jan. 24 and recalled defenseman Brian Strait from Manitoba of the American Hockey League.

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What's next

Jets: At the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; FS-MW, TSN3, NHL.TV)
Blackhawks: At the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday (10:30 p.m. ET; CSN-CA, CSN-CH, NHL.TV)