Jets end road trip with comeback win in Arizona

GLENDALE - It was exactly the road trip finale the Winnipeg Jets (23-21-9) needed.
Down 3-2 after 40 minutes to the Arizona Coyotes, the Jets dug deep and scored three times in the third to seal a 5-3 win at Gila River Arena.
Captain Blake Wheeler was the one to tie the game 3:17 into the final frame, with Kyle Connor notching his 31st and 32nd goals of the season to seal the victory.
"The way it has been going, it could have been easy to just start pointing fingers, blaming each other and not come out," said Connor. "We just really came together there. I thought we had a good push. Obviously, it was a big win for us."
For a team that had suffered three heartbreaking losses earlier in the trip - a last minute loss in Calgary, an overtime defeat in Dallas, and a 3-0 lead in Colorado evaporating over the final 40 minutes - Sunday's win was much needed in the room and in the Western Conference wildcard standings.
"I saw a group that stayed with it," said Jets interim head coach Dave Lowry. "We got pressed, we got pushed and we stayed with how we wanted to play. It was nice to see (Wheeler) go down and get that goal for us."

Adam Lowry and Evgeny Svechnikov had the other two goals for the Jets in the win, while Eric Comrie made 14 of his 26 saves in the third period.

"I just hope we get on a roll. That's the big one. Just get on a roll," said Comrie. "I think if we keep doing the right game, playing the right way, coaches keep telling us the right stuff, I think we're going to start find some more results here and some more success."
Winnipeg got the ideal start in the game, as Lowry notched his second goal in as many games by deflecting a Nathan Beaulieu point shot into the top corner on Scott Wedgewood. Lowry's sixth of the season came 7:39 into the opening period.
Jakob Chychrun tied it for Arizona 2:37 later with a point shot that squeaked through Comrie, but the Jets stayed aggressive, and were rewarded 43 seconds after Chychrun's marker.

Svechnikov got to a loose puck in front of Wedgewood, and slipped home a backhand for his fifth of the campaign. Like Lowry, Svechnikov also has goals in consecutive games, and the Jets forward also finished with two points on the night by assisting on Connor's eventual game-winner.
"They've been playing some pretty good hockey and the way we've been playing, things haven't been going the right way," said Connor. "So we came in here just really focused, shift-by-shift, and I think just overall we just stuck with our game and the confidence to not waver."
Before the end of the first though, Barrett Hayton took advantage of some space and skated nearly the length of the ice before neatly tucking a backhand past Comrie with 3:20 left in the back and forth first period.

"He made a really good move," said Comrie. "I played with him for a little bit here and he's got some good hands so I know what he can do and unfortunately I didn't read it correctly."
The second period saw less offence, though the Jets still outshot Arizona 11-6. The only puck that found the back of the net was off Nick Ritchie's stick. He banked one in off Comrie - who was caught looking the other way - as Loui Eriksson sent a backhand pass against the flow of play from behind the net to Ritchie just off the left post.
The Coyotes had won two of their last three games coming into Sunday - including a 3-1 win over Vegas on Friday - but even down 3-2, the Jets didn't lose confidence.
It paid off as Wheeler kept on a two-on-one rush with Scheifele 3:17 into the third period. Wheeler's wrister from the right wing beat Wedgewood under the right arm and tied the game at three.
"It gave us a big lift," said Lowry. "And it allowed us to settle in and play the third period the way that we needed to."

Wheeler's seventh of the season proved to be a jumping off point for the Jets, as Connor finished off a beautiful passing play with his line mates to put the Jets in front 4-3. Pierre-Luc Dubois spotted Svechnikov in the left circle, and Svechnikov followed that with a perfect cross crease pass to Connor who wristed home his 31st of the season.
Connor had rang a shot off the crossbar in the second period and was stopped on a breakaway in the first, so giving the Jets a lead was extra special for the Jets all-star on this day.
"I think tonight we were really focused," said Connor. "I think we're all a pretty competitive group and I think we're going to rally here and make a good run."
It stayed that way until the final minutes when Comrie kept the Coyotes from tying the game, which allowed Connor to pot his second of the game into the empty net with 68 seconds remaining in regulation.
Now the Jets fly home for a four-game home stand which begins on Tuesday against the Montreal Canadiens.
"You always hope you can build some momentum," said Lowry. off "We stayed with it today. We did a lot of things right. I thought we checked the right way and we created opportunities. I really felt today, we were very good in the offensive zone, because we did things right."