Ehlers, Connor score a pair in Jets win over Toronto

TORONTO - Every hockey game might be 60 minutes, but two spans of time in the first period caused a fundamental momentum shift in the Winnipeg Jets' 5-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
First, trailing 1-0, the Jets (27-14-3) killed off 71 seconds of a 5-on-3 Toronto power play.
Second, they potted three goals on three consecutive shots in a span of 3:09 to take a 3-1 lead - a lead they never looked back from.
"The way our PK went out there and killed off those PKs, that fires a team up," said Nikolaj Ehlers. "That gives a team momentum. So, credit to them. They've done a fantastic job this season and they keep doing it. It creates a lot of momentum for a hockey team and you could see that tonight."

Ehlers and Kyle Connor each had a pair of goals in the win, which gave the Jets eight of a possible 10 points on the five-game road trip. Mark Scheifele scored his 17th of the season as well, to go along with two assists.
"We grinded the whole game," said Scheifele, who now has a six-game point streak. "We didn't like our whole game, but we definitely answered the call when we needed to. That's a big win to end a long, long road trip."
Alex Galchenyuk opened the scoring for Toronto 3:41 into the game, though it took a bit longer than that to confirm it.

The officials initially waived it off, but as game play continued for nearly a minute, the buzzer sounded - indicating to everyone the puck had crossed the line.
Then came the big 5-on-3 kill, then - the offensive onslaught.
Just nine seconds into Winnipeg's first man advantage, Ehlers wired a wrist shot from the left circle that got through a screened Jack Campbell to tie the game.
The goal gave Ehlers a share of the team-lead in goals with 19 - for a total of 27 seconds.
Connor took a perfect seam pass from Scheifele in the neutral zone and snapped his 20th of the campaign from the left wing to give the Jets a 2-1 lead.

Connor became the seventh member of the Jets franchise to have at least four consecutive 20-goal seasons, with current teammates Scheifele, Ehlers, and Blake Wheeler on that list.
Scheifele then potted one himself, capitalizing on a breakaway opportunity to give him his 17th of the season. It also ended the night for Campbell, who allowed three goals on six shots.
"I wanted to shoot the puck but Campbell locked onto me," said Scheifele. "He almost caught me off guard a little bit. I put the puck a little bit too far in front of me at the blue line, but I wanted to shoot it but he was pretty much locked on so I figured I had to make a move. I was lucky I was able to sneak it just along the post."

Toronto cut into Winnipeg's lead to 3-2 just 6:47 into the second, when John Tavares capitalized on a centering pass from Jason Spezza.
Winnipeg restored that two-goal lead in the third as Ehlers pulled even with Connor for the team lead yet again. Ehlers' second of the night was all effort, as he chased Mitch Marner down the ice and forced a turnover from the Maple Leafs forward in his own zone. Then, Ehlers took a few more strides tapped the puck past Rittich, who had tried to come out to beat Ehlers to the puck.
Goals like that one from Ehlers show just how far his game has come, says Maurice.
"That's a guy that can drive you into the game. His back checks, his hits, his battles on the wall. The bench loves that," said Jets head coach Paul Maurice. "His game now has evolved where you think this guy is a playoff guy now. Two or three years ago, he was having a hard time in that heavy environment. Now he looks like he's starting to thrive in it."

Ehlers now has 20 goals for the fifth consecutive season. Combine that with becoming the fourth Danish player to hit 300 NHL points on Wednesday night, it has been a special 48 hours for Ehlers.
"It means a lot to me to be that guy," said Ehlers. "I don't feel like I'm that young guy anymore. I was looking up to the guy like Frans Nielsen, Peter Regin and Jannik Hansen, so to be one of those guys now for a small hockey country like Denmark is pretty special.
"I am proud of that and I try to go out there and play as hard as I can every single night to show them that their dream can be true."
Connor added an empty netter to take over the team lead in goals once again - with 21 - giving the Jets two power play goals in a game for the second time on the road trip.
Now after playing 17 of 22 games on the road, the Jets return home for a six-game home stand.
"It will be nice to sleep in our own beds. That's for sure," said Scheifele. "You feel like you're lying in a hotel room pretty much all day. It's just a matter of getting our rest, and when we come to the rink, come with a purpose and that's what we need to do, we know, coming forward."
What makes the stretch more impressive, is the fact the Jets now have 16 road wins - the most in the NHL.
"When I looked at the schedule, that block from March 8 to the 19th of April for me we were either going to sink or swim on that," said Maurice. "Maybe what's happened is we found our identity in that. I fired it out on purpose a lot of times so that people would fully appreciate this hasn't been easy, and this team's done a good job."