It’s a hack way to break a goal hitting drought.
Cole Parfait scored his first goal in a month, then added two more tallies for his first career hat trick as the Winnipeg Jets knocked off Utah Hockey Club 5-2 on Friday night.
Parfait ended a long 14-game goalless drought with a three-goal night, and Nikolaj Ehlers had a goal and two assists to record two career points.
“When it’s your night, it just bounces your way,” Parfait said. “It hasn’t been the bounce lately, but just trying to be consistent with my game and eventually you will be rewarded.”
The Jets won for the fifth time in their last seven games, while also ending Utah’s modest three-game winning streak.
David Gustafsson scored the only other goal for Winnipeg as they scored three times in the third, including an empty netter.
Jets head coach Scott Arniel avenged the victory, calling it an embarrassing loss just a few days earlier.
“This was a team that embarrassed us and they’re a good hockey team,” Arniel said. “They compete hard and they don’t give us easy and they don’t let us get anything without earning it. Tonight we had to do it. I know Fats (Perfetti) and Fly (Ehlers) were really good, but I liked a lot of our guys. “
Ehlers missed the morning skate and was a game-time decision with an illness.
“I felt good there,” Ehlers said. “I’ve played feeling worse than that.”
Ehlers became just the sixth player in franchise history to hit the 500 point plate.
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“It’s special,” he said. “But I think what’s most special is doing it here at home.”
His 500th career point came on Perfetti’s hat trick goal in an empty net, but there’s no arguing who gets the milestone puck.
“Oh, I’m taking that one,” Ehlers said. “I’m old.”
“500 points is pretty cool,” Parfait said. “Fly could be that one. He can take it. “
The first period was largely uneventful until Mattias McCall was called for holding with just three minutes left.
In the locker room shortly after Mark Scheifellen blocked a shot with his hand, Perfetti jumped on the top unit and proved to be a boon for the young player. After the Jets struggled to get into the zone on the first half of the power play, Ehlers drove the puck under the wall before sending a cross-ice pass into the back of the one-timer for his first goal since Dec. 21.
Utah would start the second period on the power play as Gabriel Vilardi was called for a slash with 14 seconds left in the first, and Utah took advantage one minute into the middle frame.
The Jets got clear but later on the play, Alex Iflo lost his stick and went to his bench to get a new one. That allowed Utah to move the puck back into the zone on a 5-on-3, with Michael Kesslering as a wide-open trailer. He received a pass at the top of the zone and wired a shot that was tipped in by Nick Schmaltz and through the legs of Connor Hellebuyck to level the score.
8:48 Winnipeg takes the lead thanks to a friendly bounce. Dylan DeMello fired a puck into Utah’s end from the neutral zone and Connor Ingram left his crease to block behind the net. But as he did that, the puck took a funky bounce off a Stankian in the corner and rolled into the slot where Gustafson ran into the yawn cage before Ingram could get back into position.
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The goal was Gustafsson’s first of the season and fifth of his career in his 131st career game.
Winnipeg almost made it 3-1 a few minutes later when a net front scramble resulted in Rasmus Kupari scoring after the early whistle. The officials announced that there was unintentional goalkeeper interference on the play, so they blew the whistle.
The Jets held a 21-14 edge in shots on goal and carried their 2-1 lead into the third period, but the lead didn’t last long, as they did in the second, striking out a minute into the final frame.
John Marino to the faceoff dot to the left of Hellebuyck before dropping it to running back Barrett Hatton, who ripped a shot over Hellebuyck’s right shoulder to tie the game at the 1:19 mark.
Less than five minutes later, Perfetti struck again to restore Winnipeg’s advantage.
DeMelo’s point shot was stopped by Ingram but Vladislav Namestnikov cut the rebound to the side of the crease where Perfetti was open for a tap-in goal with 14:09 remaining.
Ehlers got into the fun with just over eight minutes to go on a turnover in Utah BlueLean. Kesslering fumbled the puck, then tripped as Ehlers took the puck away and broke the ice. He glanced behind him to see how much time and space he had before stripping Ingram and sliding a backhand into the goal to make it 4-2.
Utah pulled Ingram with just over three minutes to go, but he couldn’t push Ehlers far enough before Ehlers caught Perfetti for an empty netter, sealing his first career hat trick and giving Ehlers his 500th NHL point.
Hellebuyck had to make just 17 saves to earn his 30th win of the season, while Ingram faced 24 shots in the loss.
Winnipeg will look to make it three straight when they host Calgary at 5 p.m. Sunday with pregame coverage on 680 CJOB starting at 3 p.m.
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