Maple Leafs fall to Jets without injured Matthews

TORONTO -- Kyle Connor scored twice and had an assist to help the Winnipeg Jets defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs, who were without center Auston Matthews, 5-2 at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday.

Matthews, who leads the NHL with 32 goals, is day to day with an undisclosed injury.
The Jets were 4-1-0 on a their five-game road trip.
"First of all it feels like we've been on the road forever," Winnipeg forward Mark Scheifele said. "But we just go out there not worried about the line matchups or any of that. We're just worried about playing hockey, and we have four lines, six defensemen and two fantastic goaltenders that can all play in every situation, so it's great to have a deep team."
Nikolaj Ehlers scored twice, Scheifele had a goal and two assists, and Connor Hellebuyck made 31 saves for the Jets (27-14-3), who have won five of six and eight of their past 10 on the road.
John Tavares had a goal and an assist for the Maple Leafs (28-12-4), who have lost three straight after winning six in a row.
Winnipeg is three points behind Toronto for first place in the seven-team Scotia North Division. The top four teams will qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs

Maple Leafs goalie Jack Campbell was pulled after allowing three goals on six shots, losing his second game of the season after setting an NHL record by starting the season with 11 straight wins. David Rittich made 15 saves in relief.
"I thought we had a good start to the hockey game, and just giving three up in the first period, it's unacceptable," Campbell said. "I put the team and David in a really tough spot, and I just know I can be a lot better than that. I believe in myself and my ability, and it's definitely disappointing when I don't play to my potential."
Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said, "We didn't take care of Jack, he's taken care of us a lot this season, so I just felt it was best to give him the rest of the night off. He's been outstanding for us all season long. He didn't deserve that in the first period."
Alex Galchenyuk put the Maple Leafs up 1-0 at 3:41 of the first period but the Jets responded with three goals before the end of the period.
Ehlers tied it 1-1 at 10:45 on the power play before Connor scored 27 seconds later to put the Jets up 2-1. Scheifele scored on a breakaway at 13:54 to make it 3-1.
"They win a face-off on their power play and score immediately, that really was tough on us," Keefe said. "Obviously we didn't respond well to that. We just lost structure to their best players. Those were freebies that they didn't give us and that was the difference in the game."

Toronto had a 5-on-3 power play for 1:11 starting at 12:26 of the first period but did not score.
"The key to our game tonight was our penalty kill," Winnipeg coach Paul Maurice said. "That was the change in momentum; it got us emotionally engaged in the game. We fed off that and then had the quick strikes right after that."
Tavares cut the lead to 3-2 at 6:47 of the second period when he redirected a pass from Jason Spezza at the top of the crease. Tavares had an assist on Galchenyuk's goal and has scored 10 points (four goals, six assists) in his past seven games.
"I'm just playing, trying to be a difference-maker," Tavares said. "I want to play at a high level consistently and contribute in all areas. I think my focus is always the same, so I'm just trying to build on good habits and do my job out there."
Ehlers made it 4-2 at 5:34 of the third period with his 20th goal of the season. He stole the puck from Mitchell Marner at the blue line, leaving him in alone on Rittich. It was the fifth consecutive season Ehlers scored at least 20 goals.
"I just tried to skate as hard as I could and get my stick on that puck," the forward said. "It created a good bounce for me going towards the net, and I play with a pretty long stick, so that helped out today."
Connor put the Jets up 5-2 with 37 seconds left when he scored into an empty net.
The Jets are 16-8-1 to lead the NHL in road wins.
"To be a good road team, it's a bunch of things," Maurice said. "You've got to be smart, you've got to play hard, you have to be comfortable and patient playing a simple game. The road game is the game that is played in the playoffs, so I would take that."