Wednesday, December 20, 2023 07:30 PM (ET)

Surging Jets add to Red Wings' woes

Field Level Media
Dec 20, 2023

Gabriel Vilardi had a goal and two assists to help the Winnipeg Jets to a 5-2 win against the visiting Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday.

Nikolaj Ehlers and Axel Jonsson-Fjallby each had a goal and an assist for the Jets, who are 7-1-1 in their past nine games. Laurent Brossoit made 26 saves.

Patrick Kane had a goal and an assist, and James Reimer made 36 saves for the Red Wings, who have lost seven of eight.

Neal Pionk gave Winnipeg a 1-0 lead at 15:38 of the first period when his shot from the right point deflected off Detroit defenseman Jeff Petry and into the far side of the net.

Olli Maatta tied it for the Red Wings at 1:44 of the second period.

After a defensive zone faceoff win by Detroit, Shayne Gostisbehere sent a lob pass from the corner to the neutral zone that was collected by Andrew Copp. The center sent a short pass to Kane to his right, and Kane stopped along the wall before sending a tape-to-tape feed to an oncoming Maatta on the left side. The defenseman took it inside the circle and beat Brossoit on the near side.

Soon after, the Jets started to take control, ending the period by outshooting Detroit 18-7.

Ehlers was left uncovered in front and took a pass from Vilardi to put Winnipeg ahead 2-1 at 7:41.

Jonsson-Fjallby pushed it to 3-1 at 10:50. Dylan Samberg banked a stretch pass off the right wall to Jonsson-Fjallby, who broke in and beat Reimer on his glove side.

Vilardi added to the lead to make it 4-1 when Cole Perfetti found him alone on the doorstep for the tap-in at 16:10.

Kane connected on a rebound down low to narrow it to 4-2 at 8:41 of the third period.

Vilardi fed an uncovered Mark Scheifele in front, pushing it to 5-2 at 15:12.

--Field Level Media

Covers 25 Years Logo Established in 1995,
Covers is the world
leader in sports
betting information.
Covers is verified safe by: Evalon Logo GPWA Logo GDPR Logo GeoTrust Logo Evalon Logo