WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) Gabe Vilardi had a goal and two assists, Laurent Brossoit made 26 saves and the Winnipeg Jets beat the Detroit Red Wings 5-2 on Wednesday night to take sole possession of the Central Division lead.
Vilardi has has five goals and five assists in his last four games. He missed six weeks because of a knee injury, returning to the lineup Nov. 30.
āUnbelievable, smart player,ā linemate Nikolaj Ehlers said. āTo be able to come back after an injury like he had that early in the season and play the way heās playing right now is - you know, Iāve been through it - itās hard.ā
Ehlers and Axel Jonnson-Fjallby each had a goal and an assist and Mark Scheifele and Neal Pionk also scored to help Winnipeg improve to 9-9-3.
Brossoit made his eighth start of the season, with Connor Hellebuyck getting the majority of the work in goal.
āLB, the games that heās played, heās been unbelievable,ā Ehlers said. āHaving two goalies that play the way they do every single night is pretty exciting, and it makes our job a little easier. The saves that he made are pretty impressive.ā
Patrick Kane and Olli Maatta scored for Detroit, and James Reimer stopped 36 shots. The Red Wings have lost four in a row to fall to 15-13-4.
āItās spiraling right now,ā Detroit defenseman Dylan Larkin said. āItās a lot of hockey, but we donāt make excuses. We had to come in here and find a way, and we didnāt. We found the opposite way.ā
Scheifele put it away with 4:48 left with Winnipegās fifth goal, converting a setup from Vilardi.
Detroit pulled to 4-2 at 8:41 of the third. Kane converted the rebound of a shot from Larkin from the side of the net.
āIf you look at the goals they scored today, they really didnāt have to work very hard for them,ā Detroit defenseman Moritz Seider said. āWe were just kind of giving Grade-A chances to them and obviously that will hurt you.ā
UP NEXT
Red Wings: Host Philadelphia on Friday night.
Jets: Host Boston on Friday night.
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