BOSTON — Kyle Connor scored back-to-back goals 34 seconds apart in the third period and delivered the only goal in a shootout to lift the Winnipeg Jets over the Boston Bruins 4-3 on Tuesday night.
Connor Hellebuyck stopped 36 shots for the Jets and didn’t allow anything past him in the tiebreaker, stopping Brad Marchand on Boston’s final chance.
Josh Morrissey also scored for the Jets, Mark Scheifele had two assists and Winnipeg rebounded from a 3-1 loss Monday night at Philadelphia to avoid losing three straight for the first time this season.
Patrice Bergeron scored twice for the Bruins. David Pastrnak had a goal and an assist, and Marchand assisted on all three Boston goals.
Jaroslav Halak made 24 saves through overtime. Connor’s backhand in the opening round of the shootout was the only try to get past either goaltender.
Winnipeg Jets Kyle Connor scores on Boston Bruins Jaroslav Halak. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Winnipeg trailed 2-1 entering the third period before tying it at 4:27 on Connor’s breakaway goal after a turnover in the neutral zone. Connor gave the Jets their first lead 34 seconds later on a one-timer from the slot. Scheifele and Blake Wheeler assisted.
Bergeron scored from the slot with 8:21 left in the third for his second of the night.
Pastrnak put Boston up 2-1 on a power-play goal with 1:27 remaining in the first period on a one-timer from the left point. Bergeron’s one-timer 9:49 into the game gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead.
Winnipeg tied it with 5:27 left in the first on Morrissey’s slap shot from the blue line after the Jets won a faceoff during a power play with Zdeno Chara serving a slashing minor. It was just the fifth shot of the period for the Jets.
Trent Frederic made his NHL debut for Boston and picked up his first career fighting major in the second period after a scrum in front of the Winnipeg net.
Frederic and Brandon Tanev separated from the pack for a 1-on-1 bout that got the kid a standing ovation from Boston fans — including his parents, who were shown exchanging high-fives in the stands as Frederic headed to the locker room.
The fight happened with 3:44 left in the second and less than a minute after Boston’s Keven Miller and Adam Lowry exchanged a flurry of punches at the other end.
NOTES: Halak started in place of Tuukka Rask, still out with a concussion from a collision with Rangers forward Filip Chytil on Jan. 19. The Bruins placed Rask on injured reserve Monday, retroactive to the day of the injury. . The Bruins posted a photo on Twitter of Frederic — a St. Louis native — as a child posing with former Blues captain David Backes, his right wing on Boston’s third line Tuesday night.
UP NEXT
Jets: Host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night.
Bruins: Host the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night.
___
More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Doug Alden, The Associated Press
