Jets rally past Blackhawks, set franchise record with 8th straight win

WINNIPEG -- The Winnipeg Jets rallied for a franchise-record eighth win in a row and extended their point streak to 14 games with a 2-1 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks at Canada Life Centre on Thursday.

“They made it very hard for us tonight and they did get us frustrated,” Winnipeg coach Rick Bowness said. “I give the guys a lot of credit because they bounced back and they played the way we have to play in the third period. We got the two points, and that's the most important thing."

Nikolaj Ehlers scored the go-ahead goal at 18:55 of the third period after Gabriel Vilardi tied it 1-1 at 16:31.

“The way that we played in the third, we didn’t let them breathe, it was bound to go in,” Ehlers said. “We didn’t like the way that we played in the second period. Frustrations kicked in.”

Adam Lowry had two assists, and Laurent Brossoit made 20 saves for the Jets (28-9-4), who haven't lost in regulation since Dec. 12 (2-1 to the San Jose Sharks).

“It’s obviously a cool feat that this group is able to accomplish -- at the same time, it really doesn’t mean anything,” Winnipeg defenseman Josh Morrissey said. “We’re off to a great start and playing well through the first half of the year. We’re really excited about that and what we’re building here through our team game, our structure and our commitment to [defense] and depth. As far as the winning streak goes, of course we’re excited about it, but it doesn’t really matter. We’re looking forward to tomorrow.”

Connor Murphy scored for the Blackhawks (12-28-2), who have lost 15 straight road games (0-14-1). Petr Mrazek made 26 saves.

“I think, subconsciously, you back off and try to protect the 1-0 lead, and then preserve it and try to get to overtime when they tie it up,” Chicago coach Luke Richardson said. “They just kept coming. Unfortunately, they got the breaks at the end that they created for themselves, and we came away with nothing again and that’s frustrating. In the last two games we played very well and came away with no points.”

Murphy gave the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead at 4:19 of the second period. His wrist shot from the top of the circle made its way through traffic and beat a screened Brossoit high stick side.

“It’s unacceptable on our part to give up goals and Grade A chances in the last 10 minutes, five minutes,” Murphy said. “It’s just terrible on our part as players. [Mrazek] made big saves, too. We even had a chance when we were giving up big ones, and then we kept giving up big ones and we paid for it.”

Vilardi tied it 1-1 with 3:29 left in the third when Lowry’s centering pass found him in the slot, and he slid a redirection under Mrazek.

“A really nice feed from [Lowry], the way he protected that puck on the boards and was able to skate down and make that pass was pretty cool,” Ehlers said. “Pretty amazing. Gabe, obviously, in tight. We’ve seen that many times before already this season, that he’s got some pretty good hands there. That was huge.”

Winnipeg forward Mark Scheifele left the game early in the second period with a lower-body injury and did not return. Bowness said he will be re-evaluated tomorrow.

“Resiliency,” Morrissey said. "We kept battling. We’re comfortable in those one-goal, low-scoring games. We’ve played a lot of them this year. Just a good character win for us. But as I said, you can’t look at the standings in that game. They pushed us.”

NOTES: Chicago hasn't won on the road since Nov. 9, a 5-3 victory at the Tampa Bay Lightning. … Winnipeg surpassed its seven-game winning streak from March 26-April 8, 2017. … The Jets joined the Florida Panthers (9-0-0 since Dec. 23), Edmonton Oilers (9-0-0 since Dec. 21) and Seattle Kraken (8-0-0 since Dec. 20) as the fourth team with an active winning streak of at least eight games. Four teams simultaneously own an active win streak of at least eight games for the first time in NHL history. … Ehlers has seven points (four goals, three assists) on a six-game point streak. … Lowry has five points (one goal, four assists) during a three-game point streak.