Jets start fast, score six to cruise past Canucks

WINNIPEG -- Mark Scheifele and Dawson Mercer each had a goal and an assist for the Winnipeg Jets in a 6-2 win against the Vancouver Canucks at Canada Life Centre on Thursday.

“Every game that you're starting to really see the skill set,” Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said of Mercer. “But he also has a real good compete side to him. We use him on the penalty kill. He's not afraid to block shots. He’s using his speed. … I think he's really starting to get comfortable and starting to feel like he’s a part of the Winnipeg Jet family.”

Alex Iafallo and Neal Pionk also scored, and Kyle Connor and Dylan DeMelo each had two assists for the Jets (6-8-3), who have won two straight following a nine-game skid. Stuart Skinner made 24 saves.

Winnipeg was coming off the latest four-goal comeback in NHL history on Tuesday, rallying from down 4-0 in the final 2:39 of the third period en route to a 5-4 overtime victory against the Montreal Canadiens.

“I think we proved ourselves there in the first period,” Mercer said. “We came out really strong, with speed and kind of built off that win (in Montreal on Tuesday). That was a pretty spectacular game, to say the least. It definitely gave us a lot of motivation here coming into the game at home.”

Said Arniel: “We came out — very easily could be caught up in what happened in Montreal and come up flat and allow Vancouver to get to play their game. I didn't think we did that. I thought all the lines, the D, everybody was ready to go. We got out in front real quick.

“So now, all of a sudden, you have the opposition on their heels and that's what we were hoping for. And like we said, it's building, stringing things together, but you got to play the right way to do it. I thought we’ve done that a couple games in a row now.”

Brock Boeser and Liam Ohgren scored for the Canucks (3-14-1), who have lost four straight (0-4-0) and 14 of 15 (1-13-1). Leevi Merilainen made 23 saves.

“Ultimately, though, it was a lack of effort and compete in certain departments,” Vancouver coach Manny Malhotra said. “We knew coming in they play a very simple and direct style, and it suits them well, and we had to be prepared and ready to compete at that level. And we were on the short end of a lot of puck battles and races tonight.”

The Jets scored the game’s first two goals just 14 seconds apart early in the first period.

Iafallo gave Winnipeg a 1-0 lead on the power play at 3:49, tipping Haydn Fleury’s point shot before Cole Koepke extended it to 2-0 at 4:03 on a wrist shot from outside the right face-off dot.

“(The start was) not great,” Malhotra said. “Getting into penalty trouble early, a lazy hooking penalty for no reason in the neutral zone. We just, we seem to put ourselves at a disadvantage early for no reason and those are the types of things that we have to clean up.”

Ohgren cut it to 2-1 at 6:51 when he entered the zone and scored with a wrist shot from the top of the right circle.

“I think we've got to have a better start,” Ohgren said. “And just play more predictable, faster, and more physical. I think they outcompeted us tonight, and that's just not good.

Mercer made it 3-1 at 14:04. Cole Perfetti’s pass from behind the net set Mercer up for a one-timer, his first goal of the season. It was also his first as a member of the Jets after being acquired from the New Jersey Devils on Oct. 23 as part of the Connor Hellebuyck trade.

“It was good. I was happy to get it finally,” Mercer said. “I’ve been thinking about it. To get it during a win and at home just made it a little bit better.”

Pionk pushed it to 4-1 at 6:52 of the second period, quickly burying the rebound of Connor’s backhand.

Scheifele then made it 5-1 at 11:36, scoring with a one-handed flick of the puck over Merilainen’s pad on the rebound of another Connor backhand.

Viggo Bjorck, the No. 8 pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, assisted on Scheifele’s goal for his first NHL point in his 17th career game.

“In that moment I thought of Scheifele, because he scored,” the 18-year-old forward said. “I was happy that he put it in.”

Mario Ferraro extended it to 6-1 at 11:32 of the third period with a wrist shot from the right dot.

Boeser scored on the backhand at 15:09 for the 6-2 final.

“These are the types of games where you find out a lot about your group in terms of what they're capable of doing in terms of pushing back,” Malhotra said. “And (Winnipeg) played a big, heavy game tonight and we didn't have the pushback necessary to compete with that.”

NOTES: Björck (18 years, 238 days) became the third-youngest Swedish player in NHL history at the time of his first NHL point, behind only Mika Zibanejad (18 years, 172 days on Oct. 7, 2011) and Rasmus Dahlin (18 years, 181 days on Oct. 11, 2018). Björck also became the youngest Jets player at the time of his first NHL point since Ville Heinola (18 years, 215 days) on Oct. 3, 2019. … Winnipeg defenseman Haydn Fleury left the game at 1:42 of the third period and did not return after taking a shot to the hand. “He got hit with a shot, so that'll be kind of wait and see on that one,” Arniel said. Arniel also said defenseman Elias Salomonsson is sick, which is why he was scratched before puck drop on Thursday.