Bruins Drop Road Trip Opener in Winnipeg

WINNIPEG — Mark Scheifele had two goals and an assist for the Winnipeg Jets in an 8-1 win against the Boston Bruins at Canada Life Centre on Tuesday.

“We had guys anticipating the play and reading where the next play will be,” Scheifele said. “When you are able to stay above guys, it makes it tough for them to generate much. It was just a great full team effort.”

Kyle Connor had a goal and two assists, and Gabriel Vilardi and Nikita Chibrikov each had a goal and an assist for the Jets (21-9-0), who have won three of four. Connor Hellebuyck made 23 saves.

“I think there was just more directness,” Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said. “I think we were real quick through the neutral zone and just the execution was there (in) all facets of the game… [Scheifele] had a couple huge goals, and I thought we did a good job on the forecheck. We did a good job in the D zone, not really giving their top guys a lot of time and space. I think that's kind of how we have to play to be successful.”

David Pastrnak scored for the Bruins (15-12-3), who had won four straight. Jeremy Swayman made 27 saves.

“They played well tonight and they certainly earned the two points. We didn’t,” Boston interim coach Joe Sacco said. “They were just a better team tonight, I thought, from pretty much from start to finish. The penalties got us into a little bit of trouble tonight, but overall just not the start of the road trip we wanted.”

Vladislav Namestnikov scored on the power play to give the Jets a 1-0 lead at 12:09 of the first period. Neal Pionk’s point shot came back off the end boards, deflected off Nino Niederreiter in front and fell to Namestnikov for a tap-in at the left post.

“This was coming,” Bruins captain Brad Marchand said. “Our practices have been sloppy, our execution has been off there, and it bleeds into games. The way you practice is how you play, it starts there and we haven’t been good enough. So, we need to do a better job at being good in practice and that will translate to games.”

Scheifele made it 2-0 at 18:01 with a one-timer between the circles off a saucer pass from Connor.

“(The Jets) were very good,” Marchand said. “They were good and we were not good. We weren't executing. We were lost in our coverage and we were lost in our battles. So yeah, they were good, they made plays, but we did not have a good game.”

Scheifele scored with another one-timer, pushing it to 3-0 with a power-play goal at 7:02 of the second.

“Some unbelievable plays,” Scheifele said. “[Connor and Josh Morrissey] both made great passes. It was just a solid effort. We went to the right areas and good things happened.”

Pastrnak cut it to 3-1 with a power-play goal at 9:13, beating Hellebuyck glove side with a one-timer from the left circle.

“It's 3-1 after two periods. We’ve been in that position before,” Sacco said. “We thought that we could certainly work our way back into the game but we didn't, and so you don't take too much stock and at the end of the game when it's 7 (or) 8-1. But there's things that we need to address and correct, and we will.”

Connor scored to make it 4-1 at 1:15 of the third. Scheifele kept the puck in at the blue line, drove through the right circle and fired a pass to Connor for a one-timer in the slot.

“Usually when (the line of Scheifele, Connor, and Vilardi) play like that, it leads to a win,” Arniel said. “They came up huge for us throughout the game. Dominant shifts, some huge goals at critical times to get us the lead and things like that. Their line, they've had a great year so far and it kind of starts with Mark driving it down the middle. In order for us to be successful… that’s the line that we look to, and that was a big performance.”

Vilardi extended it to 5-1 at 5:33, then Alex Iafallo scored with a redirection on the power play to make it 6-1 at 7:19.

“Tonight we didn’t use the momentum that we built (winning four straight),” Swayman said. “We’ve got four more games this road trip. We’re going to take one game at a time and I’m excited for that.”

Mason Appleton’s wrist shot from a tight angle below the right circle pushed it to 7-1 at 16:16.

“Some of the goals that I let in I just know I can stop,” Swayman said. “I hold myself to a standard, and when you let those in, it’s not a great feeling so I want to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”

Chibrikov scored in his season debut for the 8-1 final at 16:26. He has two goals and an assist in two NHL games after scoring in his League debut in the final game of the 2023-24 regular season.

“I thought [Chibrikov] played great,” Jets captain Adam Lowry said. “[Chibrikov] chips in with a couple of points and it was nice to see him get one there to kind of keep his goal-streak going in the NHL. Young guys come in and they play with energy. They’ve provided a bit of a spark for our lineup and it’s nice to see them get rewarded… [Chibrikov] coming in and offering that spark, too. He had a great game.”