Niederreiter, Dillon help Jets top Coyotes, end 3-game skid

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Nino Niederreiter scored a hat trick for the Winnipeg Jets in a 5-3 comeback win against the Arizona Coyotes at Mullett Arena on Saturday.

Brenden Dillon had two goals and an assist, and Connor Hellebuyck made 23 saves for Winnipeg (5-4-2), which had lost three straight (0-1-2).

The Jets trailed 2-0 and 3-2 before rallying with three consecutive goals to win their seventh straight against the Coyotes dating to Jan. 4, 2022.

"There's going to be some adversity in games or someone (on the other team) is going to play well, and they've got the talent to hurt you," Dillon said. "But our group understands what makes us successful. We got to our game in the second period. This is something we can definitely build on."

Lawson Crouse had a goal and an assist for Arizona (5-5-1). J.J. Moser and Liam O'Brien also scored, and Karel Vejmelka made 22 saves.

"The second period was the turning point," Coyotes forward Nick Bjugstad said. "They came at us hard. We had some scoring chances, but I didn't like the way we were working as a five-man unit. … An afternoon game like this at our rink, we've got to be harder to play against."

Niederreiter tied it 3-3 at 17:01 of the second period with a redirection in front on a power play.

Dillon gave Winnipeg its first lead, 4-3, at 3:23 of the third period, scoring on a slap shot from the top of the left face-off circle. 

Niederreiter then made it 5-3 at 7:16, pushing the puck into the net after Dillon's shot deflected off Adam Lowry and remained on the goal line. It was his third NHL hat trick and first with the Jets.

"As soon as I saw it there, I wasn't sure if it went in already," Niederreiter said. "I was like, 'I'm just going to poke it in and see.' At the end of the day, it was a huge, huge goal for us. We needed that goal, and it doesn't matter who scores it."

Moser gave Arizona a 1-0 lead at 5:31 of the first period. He jumped into a rush and scored from the slot off a pass from Matias Maccelli, who extended his point streak to eight games (one goal, eight assists).

O'Brien made it 2-0 at 5:49 of the second, scoring on the rebound of Jack McBain's shot following a turnover by Jets forward Mark Scheifele.

"They're a young team and they're very, very skilled and very fast and they make you pay when they get their chances," Niederreiter said. "That's something we knew we had to be aware of, and, obviously, being down 2-0 wasn't in the game plan."

Niederreiter, though, cut it to 2-1 at 7:31, tapping in Mason Appleton's pass from the right circle.

Dillon tied the game 2-2 at 10:05 with a backhand from the left circle. It was his first goal in 31 games.

"It's nice to see sometimes when guys show you a different side of themselves, and every defenseman wants to be a goal-scorer," Jets associate coach Scott Arniel said. "We actually talked about [us] needing more from our back end, whether it's shots [or] assists. 'Dilly' took it one step further (with his first two-goal NHL game) and any time you can get that on the road, that's big."

Crouse's power-play goal put Arizona back in front 3-2 at 14:47 of the second. It was the 12th power-play goal allowed by Winnipeg in 11 games this season.

"[After that] we were too slow on breakouts. The puck wasn't moving, we weren't getting anything going offensively and they were able to stall us in our zone forever," Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny said.

NOTES: Jets coach Rick Bowness missed his sixth straight game to be with his wife, who had a seizure on Oct. 22. … Each of Niederreiter's first two hat tricks came with the Minnesota Wild against the Buffalo Sabres (Nov. 13, 2014; Jan. 4, 2018). … Among Switzerland-born players, only Timo Meier (four) has more hat tricks than Niederreiter. … Hellebuyck is 11-3-0 against the Coyotes.