In Winnipeg, Mark Scheifele hit for a pair of goals on Sunday, including the game-winner in extra time to give the Jets a 2-1 win over the Arizona Coyotes.
“Vejmelka stood on his head all night, so [I] just tried to keep it simple,” Scheifele said. “It’s nice him being a right-handed goalie, usually that’s glove side, so it’s nice to feel having the blocker on that side, so I just tried to shoot it and hope it went in.”
Connor Hellebuyck made 28 saves in the Jets win.
“Mark continues to play a skilled game,” the Jets’ Adam Lowry said. “He makes very good decisions, and he’s in the right place and he can finish plays.”
Winnipeg improved to 32-25-10.
“Obviously, we want to make the playoffs, but we know we’re not going to make the playoffs in one game,” Scheifele said. “And all you can do is take each game in stride, play your best, leave it all on the ice and control what you can control. That’s all we can do.”
Nick Ritchie scored the Coyotes only goal, his marker tied the game, 1-1.
The Coyotes fell to 20-40-5.
“I see what I see most nights, [Vejmelka] was really good,” Arizona coach Andre Tourigny said. “He gave us a chance to win. … The biggest thing was their deflection, and [Vejmelka] was really good in his positioning and making those stops. He was rock-solid, gave us a chance to win.”
Arizona’s Phil Kessel played in his 965th consecutive NHL game, good for second on the NHL list for
“That team needed to win badly, they needed those two points,” Tourigny said. “You want to be a proud team, a proud organization who fights every game and makes it really tough on your opponent. We don’t have the same opportunity as them in the sense that we know we won’t be in the playoffs, but at the same time, we want to fight with the same urgency, the same determination, the same pride, and we did it tonight.”
Karel Vejmelka made 38 saves in the Coyotes loss.
“Tonight there was a lot of the game where we were back to that aggressive style, in your face, making it hard to play against,” Ritchie said. “It was a close game there tonight, and we had a chance, for sure.”
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