Connor extends point streak as Jets hand Canucks lopsided loss | CBC Sports

Kyle Connor extended his point streak with a goal and an assist and the Winnipeg Jets downed the Vancouver Canucks 5-1 on Saturday.

Sam Gagner also scored and had a helper for the Jets (20-9-1), while Kyle Capobianco, Neal Pionk and Axel Jonsson-Fjallby all added goals. Pierre-Luc Dubois contributed three assists.

Bo Horvat replied for Vancouver with a power-play marker midway through the third period.

Winnipeg netminder Connor Hellebuyck made 22 saves and improved to 16-7-1 on the season.

Spencer Martin stopped 22-of-27 shots for the Canucks (13-14-3), who have yet to climb over the .500 bar in the 2022-23 campaign.

Both sides were missing key pieces. Vancouver forwards Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser have been sidelined by a non-COVID illness and Winnipeg is without right-winger Blake Wheeler (lower-body) and defenceman Nate Schmidt (upper-body) until the new year.

WATCH | Jets blowout Canucks:

Jets cruise past Canucks with slick passes from Dubois

Pierre-Luc Dubois records three assists in Winnipeg’s 5-1 victory over Vancouver.

A sizeable contingent of Jets fans in the crowd cheered as the final buzzer went, drowning out a smattering of boos from frustrated Canucks fans.

Vancouver finally got on the board after Winnipeg’s Dylan DeMelo was called for holding 14:28 into the third period.

Seconds into the man advantage, Horvat tipped a Quinn Hughes’ shot in past Hellebuyck from the middle of the slot

The Canucks were 1-for-3 on the power play Saturday and Winnipeg went 1-for-2.

The Jets took a three-goal lead into the third period Saturday and refused to relent.

Gagner scored 56 seconds into the final frame, collecting a pass across the slot from Dubois and firing it in for his fifth goal of the year.

Jonsson-Fjallby followed, sending a wrist shot past Martin from the faceoff circle at the 7:59 mark to put the visitors up 5-0.

Winnipeg jumped out to a 3-0 lead midway through the second when Pionk fired a slap shot past Martin from inside the blue line for his fifth goal of the season.

Capobianco scored from a similar spot 5:30 into the middle frame. His blast sailed through traffic and in over Martin’s glove to put the Jets up 2-0.

The goal was Capobianco’s first of the season, coming in his fourth game of the year.

Connor opened the scoring 2:51 into the game, sending a wrist shot past Martin from the hash marks on a power play.

The goal, his 13th of the season, extended Connor’s point streak to eight games with five goals and eight assists across the stretch.

Josh Morrissey notched an assist — and his 200th NHL point — on the play. He, too, is on an eight-game point streak with nine helpers.