Jets stay alive

In Ottawa, the Winnipeg Jets’ Nikolaj Ehlers  hit for a goal and three points on Sunday in a 4-3 win over the Senators .

The win helped the Jets keep pace in their hunt for a wild card spot in the Western Conference.

“[Ehlers] is a key player for us, offensively,” Winnipeg coach Dave Lowry said. “He’s one of the drivers, and when you don’t have him in your lineup, you miss him. And when you have him in your lineup, [Ehlers] is dialed in and he’s playing his game. You notice him. Tonight, he was able to get himself into a game. He created some offense, he used his feet to beat guys and allowed his skill to take over.”

Connor Hellebuyck made 31 saves in the Jets win.

Brady Tkachuk hit for a double for the Sens, and Josh Norris added a single marker in the loss.

“We really wanted those two points tonight,” Tkachuk said. “As you could tell, we were fighting to the very last second. This one’s going to be a frustrating one, but we have to move past it.”

The victory ended a four-game skid.

“Our goalies, not just [Hellebuyck], [Eric Comrie] as well, they’ve been fantastic all year,” Ehlers said. “They give us a chance to be in every single game. It’s up to us to give something back. And tonight, [Hellebuyck] showed that again, made a huge save at the end on the rebound to keep it a 4-3 game.”

Norris gave Ottawa a 1-0 lead in the first period.

“I didn’t like our first period,” Lowry said. “I didn’t like our puck management, I didn’t like the pace that we were playing at, I didn’t like the [lack of] urgency in our game. To [our] credit, we had an answer in the second period and we did things in the second that we wanted to do at the start of the game.”

Pierre-Luc Dubois, Kyle Connor, and Paul Stastny all scored for Winnipeg.

“It’s easy to play with him,” Stastny said of Ehlers. “Sometimes we play great together, and sometimes there’s injuries and the lineup changes a little bit. But ever since we’ve been back together, I think we’ve both enjoyed having each other. We both play for each other, we kind of feed off each other and know where each guy’s going to be, whether it’s through the neutral zone, offensive or defensive zone.”

Mads Sogaard made 21 saves in the Senators loss.

“That’s where I feel I’m at my best, around the net causing chaos,” Tkachuk said. “Just being hungry and trying to put [pucks] in the back of the net. But all of those plays don’t happen without teammates getting it there and making good plays around the net, shots, tips. And we have a lot of guys who sacrifice in front of the net.”