Jets recover to defeat Flyers after blowing 3-goal lead

PHILADELPHIA -- Karson Kuhlman scored the go-ahead goal in the third period for the Winnipeg Jets, who recovered after blowing a three-goal lead to defeat the Philadelphia Flyers 5-3 at Wells Fargo Center on Sunday.

"We jumped out of the gates great," Kuhlman said. "A back to back, they were on one as well, so it's always kind of a toss-up. We just wanted to play our game right from the drop of the puck. I think we did that and gave ourselves a little bit of a cushion. Obviously wanted to play a better 60-minute game than that but ended up with the win."
Axel Jonsson-Fjallby, Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele scored in the first 8:31 of the game for Winnipeg (31-16-1), which won for the second straight night following a 5-1 victory at the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. David Rittich made 28 saves.
Kevin Hayes scored two power-play goals, and Felix Sandstrom made 25 saves for Philadelphia (20-21-7), which had won five of seven.
The Flyers were also playing the second of a back to back after a 2-1 victory at the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday.
"I think we played great and battled the whole game," Sandstrom said. "It's tough to have to start like that. Just shows how hard this group works and how hard they worked today."
Kuhlman put Winnipeg ahead 4-3 at 8:44 of the third period when he drove to the net and slid the puck under Sandstrom.
"On that final goal there, [Morgan] Barron and I had taken a few pucks to the net earlier in the game and just kind of missed, they're just kind of sitting around there," Kuhlman said. "So it was nice to see that one kind of slide in."

Sandstrom was playing his first NHL game since Dec. 13. He had been recalled from a conditioning stint with Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League on Friday.
"Ended up in between what I wanted to do so it was a real bad play on my part," Sandstrom said. "... I'm really disappointed with myself with that. So yeah, not the best performance in that situation."
Kevin Stenlund shot into an empty net with 27 seconds remaining for the 5-3 final.
Jonsson-Fjallby, who plays on the fourth line with Kuhlman and Stenlund, made it 1-0 at 4:53 of the first period when he redirected a shot by Brenden Dillon, who had two assists.
"We've got a lot of skill on this team, and we know in the room when we commit to defending and playing the right way, we're going to score enough goals this year to be able to offset that," Dillon said. "We committed to it for a good chunk of the game, enough to win tonight."
Connor gave the Jets a 2-0 lead at 6:14, finishing a 2-on-1 with Cole Perfetti.
Scheifele scored to make it 3-0 at 8:31 after Nikolaj Ehlers skated the puck behind Philadelphia's net and passed up to Blake Wheeler, who bumped the puck to Scheifele for a goal from the left circle.

Ivan Provorov cut it to 3-1 at 18:39, crashing the net to finish a 2-on-1 break with Owen Tippett.
Hayes made it 3-2 at 18:27 of the second period when his shot from along the goal line below the right circle found space between Rittich's arm and the post.
Hayes then tied it 3-3 at 2:35 of the third period, scoring on the rebound of Morgan Frost's shot.
"We stuck with it and grinded out," Tippett said. "Obviously, it's a lot of hockey here in the last week, I think it was five in seven nights. So obviously just trying to keep the energy up and keep our feet moving."
NOTES: Jonsson-Fjallby was helped off the with 4:45 remaining after blocking a shot by Flyers defensemen Rasmus Ristolainen. Winnipeg coach Rick Bowness said the forward was fine after the game. ... The Jets ended a nine-game skid in Philadelphia (0-8-1). It was their first win here since Jan. 31, 2012. ... Scheifele's goal was his 259th, passing Wheeler for second in Jets/Atlanta Thrashers history. Ilya Kovalchuk is first with 328. ... Hayes played his 600th NHL game. ... The Flyers went 5-for-5 on the penalty kill, ending the Jets' streak of five straight games with a power-play goal.