Wheeler extends point streak in Jets win against Capitals

WINNIPEG -- Ben Chiarot broke a tie in the third period to help the Winnipeg Jets to a 3-1 win against the Washington Capitals at Bell MTS Place on Wednesday.

Chiarot's wrist shot from the top of the left circle deflected off the stick of Capitals defenseman John Carlson to make it 2-1 at 12:51.
"It's nice," Chiarot said. "We've been talking about getting on a bit of a roll here. We're excited, the Stanley Cup champs coming to town you want to bring your best effort. And Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck] did a good job of keeping us in it at the beginning, and I thought once we got going, got skating, it was a pretty tight game."
[WATCH: [All Capitals vs. Jets highlights]
Kyle Connor scored into an empty net at 19:00 to make it 3-1.
Jets forward Blake Wheeler extended his point streak to 11 games (two goals, 18 assists). He also had an 11-game point streak from March 20-April 9, 2016. Wheeler is second in the NHL in assists with 21, one behind Mikko Rantanen of the Colorado Avalanche.

Mark Scheifele scored his team-leading 10th goal for the Jets (11-5-1), who have won three straight. Hellebuyck made 27 saves in his sixth straight start.
"He made a lot of big saves," Scheifele said. "He's the backbone of our team and he does that every night."
Jakub Vrana scored for Washington (8-7-3), which played the second game of a back to back. Pheonix Copley made 21 saves in his second straight start.
"I think we played hard and gave ourselves a chance," Capitals defenseman Matt Niskanen said. "Obviously managing the puck is important when you're on the second [game] of a back-to-back schedule. You know we kept the game pretty quiet for the most part. I thought we checked really well."

Capitals goalie Braden Holtby was expected to start but was a late scratch because of an upper-body injury.
"It was kind of a game-time decision and he wasn't able to participate tonight," Capitals coach Todd Reirden said.
Holtby will be re-evaluated Thursday.
Washington signed goalie Gavin McHale to an amateur tryout contract prior to the game. The 6-foot-7 Winnipeg resident was Copley's emergency backup.
"I think the biggest thing is that every guy in here was so nice to me and made me feel so good," McHale said. "Just to be a person is a really important piece of what hockey players are. This was a pretty successful team last year, so to be welcomed in like that in a bit of a crazy situation was a pretty nice feeling."
Vrana scored on a wrist shot high past Hellebuyck's blocker side to make it 1-0 at 13:00 of the first period.
Scheifele tied it 1-1 seven seconds into a Winnipeg power play at 5:05 of the second period. Scheifele won the face-off and moved into the slot before scoring on a one-timer off a centering pass from Connor.

Capitals forward Evgeny Kuznetsov left because of an upper-body injury after taking a check to the head from Jets forward Brandon Tanev in the first period.
"Obviously we had to shorten our lines," Vrana said. "Sometimes you go out there with somebody else. It's not a big deal. I mean, we still have to focus on the game. Whatever happens during the game happens."

They said it

"I was really proud of our guys tonight. You lose an elite player like Kuznetsov and you've got Pheonix Copley playing his first ever back-to-back, and [Michal] Kempny's sick. I really liked our effort. That first period was outstanding, one of our best periods of the year." -- Capitals coach Todd Reirden
"Not very fun. The guy can shoot. He's got a lot of power-play goals and you're alone with him. It's a scary thought." -- Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck on facing Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin on the power play

Need to know

Capitals forward Nicklas Backstrom had his six-game point streak end. … Ovechkin had 16 shot attempts. ... Wheeler is the second player in Jets/Atlanta Thrashers history to have a double-digit point streak on multiple occasions. Ilya Kovalchuk had 10-game point streaks twice (Dec. 10-28, 2009, and Dec. 27-Jan. 15, 2008). … Winnipeg has allowed two goals or fewer in five of its past seven games. … Scheifele has 16 points (eight goals, eight assists) in his past 10 games.

What's next

Capitals:At the Colorado Avalanche on Friday (9 p.m. ET; ALT, NBCSWA+, NHL.TV)
Jets:Host the Buffalo Sabres on Friday (8 p.m. ET; TSN3, MSG-B, NHL.TV)