Ehlers helps Jets defeat Senators, keep pace in wild card race

OTTAWA -- Nikolaj Ehlers had a goal and two assists for the Winnipeg Jets in a 4-3 win against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre on Sunday.

Ehlers has 11 points (five goals, six assists) during a six-game point streak.
"[Ehlers] is a key player for us, offensively," Winnipeg coach Dave Lowry said. "He's one of the drivers, and when you don't have him in your lineup, you miss him. And when you have him in your lineup, [Ehlers] is dialed in and he's playing his game. You notice him. Tonight, he was able to get himself into a game. He created some offense, he used his feet to beat guys and allowed his skill to take over."
Pierre-Luc Dubois, Kyle Connor and Paul Stastny each had a goal and an assist, and Connor Hellebuyck made 31 saves for the Jets (34-28-11), who ended a four-game skid (0-3-1) and remained seven points behind the Dallas Stars for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. The Stars won 6-4 at the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday.
"Our goalies, not just [Hellebuyck], [Eric Comrie] as well, they've been fantastic all year," Ehlers said. "They give us a chance to be in every single game. It's up to us to give something back. And tonight, [Hellebuyck] showed that again, made a huge save at the end on the rebound to keep it a 4-3 game."
Brady Tkachuk had two goals and an assist, and Josh Norris had a goal and an assist for the Senators (26-40-6), who have lost three in a row. Mads Sogaard made 21 saves in his second NHL start.
"We really wanted those two points tonight," Tkachuk said. "As you could tell, we were fighting to the very last second. This one's going to be a frustrating one, but we have to move past it."

Norris gave Ottawa a 1-0 lead at 1:48 of the first period when he one-timed a behind-the-back pass from Tkachuk.
Ehlers tied it 1-1 with his 25th goal of the season at 18:49 when his centering pass deflected in off Senators defenseman Victor Mete's stick.
Ottawa outshot Winnipeg 12-5 in the first.
"I didn't like our first period," Lowry said. "I didn't like our puck management, I didn't like the pace that we were playing at, I didn't like the [lack of] urgency in our game. To [our] credit, we had an answer in the second period and we did things in the second that we wanted to do at the start of the game."

Dubois gave the Jets a 2-1 lead at 1:47 of the second period when he redirected a slap pass from Connor on a power play, and Stastny made it 3-1 at 9:34 on a 2-on-1 with Ehlers.
"It's easy to play with him," Stastny said of Ehlers. "Sometimes we play great together, and sometimes there's injuries and the lineup changes a little bit. But ever since we've been back together, I think we've both enjoyed having each other. We both play for each other, we kind of feed off each other and know where each guy's going to be, whether it's through the neutral zone, offensive or defensive zone."
Tkachuk scored a power-play goal 50 seconds into the third period on a between-the-legs pass from Colin White to make it 3-2, but Connor gave Winnipeg a 4-2 lead on a power play at 5:37 when he one-timed a cross-ice pass from Dubois.
"Obviously, our penalty kill let us down, and that's the difference," Senators coach D.J. Smith said.

Tkachuk cut it to 4-3 with another power-play goal at 13:58 when he batted the puck out of the air at the edge of the crease for his 26th of the season.
"That's where I feel I'm at my best, around the net causing chaos," Tkachuk said. "Just being hungry and trying to put pucks
returned after missing two games because of a lower-body injury. He had an assist and seven shots on goal in 21:46 of ice time. … Senators forward Drake Batherson missed his third straight game with a non-COVID-19 illness. … Tkachuk has nine points (three goals, six assists) in his past five games, and Norris has six goals in his past six.