Ehlers, Connor help Jets send Sabres to fifth loss in row

BUFFALO --Kyle Connor had two goals and an assist, Nikolaj Ehlers scored twice, and the Winnipeg Jets defeated the Buffalo Sabres 7-4 at KeyBank Center on Tuesday.
Patrik Laine scored his 100th NHL point, and Mathieu Perreault, Jacob Trouba, and Blake Wheeler each had two assists for the Jets (26-11-7) who have won three straight and are 6-0-1 in the past seven games.

Jack Eichel had two goals and an assist, Ryan O'Reilly had a goal and two assists, and Kyle Okposo had three assists for the Sabres (10-24-9), who have lost five straight (0-4-1).
WATCH: [All Jets vs. Sabres highlights]
The Jets led 2-1 after the first period on goals from Patrik Laine (6:43 on the power play) and Dustin Byfuglien (15:40) around a goal by Eichel at 14:51. It was Laine's first goal since Dec. 21 (seven games).
"It felt good to score again," Laine said. "It was a huge goal for our team to capitalize on the power play right away. I think overall it was a weird game, a lot of goals, and we allowed a couple goals we shouldn't have, but it was a good win."

Laine reached the milestone in his 117th NHL game. He is the second-fastest player to debut with the Jets/Thrashers franchise to score 100 points, behind Dany Heatley (113 games, debut in 2001-02). Among Finland-born NHL players, Laine is the fourth fastest to 100 points, behind Teemu Selanne (68 games), Jari Kurri (100) and Christian Ruuttu (114).
"Hopefully I can score a couple more," Laine said. "But it's a nice milestone to get and just try to get more."
Ehlers made it 3-1 at 1:26 of the second period after his shot from near the boards in the right face-off circle beat Robin Lehner up high. Ehlers went eight games without a goal, his last coming Dec. 19.
"I got the puck and I wanted to get the puck to the net as quick as possible," Ehlers said. "And it went in."

Chad Johnson replaced Lehner after Ehlers 18th goal of the season. Lehner made 14 saves; Johnson made 16.
"I've got to be better," Lehner said. "I take responsibility for this. We've got to take strides, we've got to do things better as a team here, and I'll look at myself in the mirror first because this wasn't good enough from me today."
Connor's first goal made it 4-1 at 12:49, and Ehlers second goal, on the power play, made it 5-1 at 15:42.
"Give him time and space he's going to put it in the net," Jets forward Blake Wheeler said of Connor. "He made a nice play, guy took [Laine] away, he can make some pretty nice plays in tight. Heck of an effort on that [first] goal."
O'Reilly brought the Sabres within 5-2 at 18:42, but Connor made it 6-2 at 7:08 of the third, his 15th of the season.

Jason Pominville's first goal since Dec. 8 (13 games) made it 6-3 at 8:31 when he banked a shot at the side of the net off Steve Mason and into the net. Mason made 30 saves in his first start since Dec. 23.
Eichel cut the lead to 6-4 at 14:53, but Joel Armia scored into an empty net at 18:55 to make it 7-4.
"We had to battle in the last 20," Jets coach Paul Maurice said. "We turned some pucks over, some things we don't like, but they get full marks for pushing hard in that game and we found a way to win a good road game."

Goal of the game

Ehlers goal at 1:26 of the second period.

Save of the game

Mason's leg save against Okposo on a breakaway at 6:37 of the second period.

Highlight of the game

Connor's goal at 12:49 of the second period.

They said it

"It was nice to have the goal support that made it a little easier for me to settle back in a rhythm. After not playing a whole lot it's tough to kind of find your groove, but when you have that kind of goal support it allows you to be a little more calm back there and work your way back in the game." -- Jets goalie Steve Mason
"The thing for me, and it's very evident and I continue to talk about it, is our lack of respect and urgency playing defense. That's not only in the defensive zone, that starts in the offensive zone, sensing possession that's going to be in question, have a total urgency to get back, and we sit and wait at times. We're hoping that somebody's going to make a play and we don't get back and then their 'D' are ahead of us, and that's where it starts." -- Sabres coach Phil Housley

Need to know

Winnipeg has scored four or more goals in six of the past seven games, and have scored four or more in their past 13 wins. … Sabres center Jacob Josefson left at 16:32 of the first period with a lower-body injury after he was struck by a shot by Tyler Myers.

What's next

Jets: At the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday (8:30 p.m. ET; NBCSCH, TSN3, NHL.TV)
Sabres: Host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; SN, MSG-B, FS-O, NHL.TV)