WINNIPEG - Blake Wheeler’s second career five point night fueled the Winnipeg Jets to a 5-2 victory over the Nashville Predators on Saturday at Bridgestone Arena.
Winnipeg also got a strong performances from their other leaders; Mark Scheifele with a goal and two assists, Kyle Connor added one of each, and Pierre-Luc Dubois also tallied for the second time in as many nights. Connor Hellebuyck turned aside 34 shots for the Jets, who scored three times on the power play to improve to 3-1-1 in their last five games.
Mikael Granlund and Matt Duchene gave the Predators a 2-0 lead just over six minutes into the game, but that was it for the home team as they then yielded five unanswered goals. Nashville defenseman Mark Borowiecki received a five-minute penalty for elbowing Evgeny Svechnikov at 9:36 of the third period and Winnipeg took advantage in short order, with Wheeler and Dubois scoring 59 seconds apart on the power play to secure a 4-2 lead. Wheeler added an empty netter at 16:46 to end any hope Nashville had for a comeback.
The Jets return home tomorrow night when they face the Chicago Blackhawks at 8pm (SNW, 680 CJOB/Power 97).
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