WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Ben Chiarot scored the tiebreaking goal with 7:09 left in the third period to lead the Winnipeg Jets to a 3-1 victory over the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night.
Mark Scheifele had a power-play score for Winnipeg, and Kyle Connor added an empty-netter to seal the victory. Connor Hellebuyck made 27 saves for the Jets, who’ve won three straight in their four-game homestand.
On the winning goal, Chiarot’s shot beat Capitals goalie Pheonix Copley on the glove side and may have ticked off a Washington player’s stick.
Jakub Vrana scored for Washington, and Copley stopped 21 shots.
The Capitals were coming off a 5-2 win over Minnesota on Tuesday in the opener of a four-game road trip.
Copley was in net for that win and had to quickly get ready for this game because starter Braden Holtby was a late-day scratch with an undisclosed upper-body injury. University of Manitoba women’s goalie coach Gavin McHale, 31, was tapped to be Washington’s emergency backup.
It took the Jets almost 13 minutes to get their first shot on goal, but 14 seconds later Vrana used his team’s eighth shot to fire the puck high past Hellebuyck for a 1-0 lead with 7 minutes left in the opening period.
Scheifele scored on the power play at 5:05 of the second, 7 seconds after Alex Ovechkin went to the penalty box for interference. It was his 10th goal.
The teams went into the game Nos. 1 and 2 in the league on the power play, with the Jets at 34 per cent and the Capitals at 30.3. Winnipeg was 1 for 3 on the power play and the Capitals 0 for 3.
Winnipeg had squeezed Washington’s shot advantage to 20-16 after the middle period. The Capitals had a power play late in the third, but couldn’t solve Hellebuyck.
NOTES: Capitals F Evgeny Kuznetsov left the ice in the first period soon after a check to the head by Jets forward Brandon Tanev and didn’t return. … Winnipeg’s Blake Wheeler had an assist, extending his point streak to 11 games (two goals, 18 assists). … Scheifele has four goals and three assists in his past three games.
UP NEXT
The Capitals play at Colorado on Friday night.
The Jets host Buffalo on Friday night in the finale of a four-game home stand.
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