In Vancouver, the Canucks found a way to end their five-game skid on Friday night.
Thatcher Demko made 37 saves for Vancouver in a 3-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets.
“We have some ground to make up here. Hopefully tonight is the start of stringing a few together and building some confidence in the room,” Demko said. “We are all on the same page as far as what we want to accomplish. Guys aren’t turning on each other and getting negative. It’s a huge sign. It’s something we have to keep building with.”
The Jets dropped to 9-4-4.
“We weren’t as good as we had been the last two games. I’m not sure you can be, but we were better than maybe I expected we were going to be tonight,” Jets head coach Paul Maurice said. “I didn’t think we had a lot to push through it.”
Oliver Ekman-Larsson (power play) and Kyle Burroughs staked the Canucks to a 2-0 lead in the game.
“As soon as it left my stick, God knows what happened. I think I was the last one to celebrate,” Burroughs said. “It was a big accomplishment, especially for me. I don’t score a lot of goals in any league. To get it here is nice and a little bit of weight off the back. It’s even better to get the win tonight.”
Nikolaj Ehlers scored in the middle frame to get Winnipeg within 2-1.
Conor Garland hit off the power play to restore the two-goal lead for Vancouver in the second period.
“It was a big goal for us. It’s a big night for our power play,” Garland said. “It was the difference in our game. We’re excited to get some confidence now and get rolling.”
The Jets’ Pierre-Luc Dubois made the last two and half minutes more interesting with his 10th of the season to make the final score 3-2.
Eric Comrie made 26 saves in the Jets loss.
“Welcome to our world, too,” the Jets’ Adam Lowry said of the penalty kill. “It’s a couple of inches, a little bit of confidence, too. … You get a little stagnant at times and you allow the power play to kind of work around you and it’s a perfect storm. Give some good players a lot of time and they’re going to find the weaknesses.”
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