Connor, Jets defeat Blue Jackets to gain ground in wild-card race in West

COLUMBUS -- Kyle Connor’s second goal of the game was the go-ahead score in the third period to help the Winnipeg Jets to a 2-1 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena on Saturday.

He made it 2-1 at 10:58 with a wrist shot from the slot after a Mark Scheifele takeaway.

“It's awfully fun playing with 81 (Connor). He's an amazing shooter,” Scheifele said. “He knows where to go. He's an absolute treat to play with."

Scheifele assisted both Connor goals, and Connor Hellebuyck made 15 saves for the Jets (33-31-12), who have won five of seven and are 7-3-2 in the past 12 games. 

Winnipeg has moved three points out of the second wild-card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.

“It just speaks to a bit of the maturity of the group, and focusing on us and how we need to play, and not really worrying about too much outside noise,” Connor said. “Obviously, looking at the standings, we’re going to need some help, but that's something that we can't be praying on. We’ve got to do our job here and we take care of points.”

Ivan Provorov scored and Jet Greaves made 23 saves for the Blue Jackets (38-27-12), who have lost six straight games (0-5-1) and are 1-6-1 in their past eight. Columbus is tied with the Detroit Red Wings, Ottawa Senators, and Philadelphia Flyers for the second wild-card spot out of the Eastern Conference.

The Blue Jackets held a players meeting following the game and kept the locker room closed for 24 minutes.

“I'll just keep our conversation in here because we're a better team than what we've shown and just talked about it,” Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski said. “We're not eliminated. We're still in it and I believe in this group. I believe we can get it done and it's just doing it. I mean, we did it for two months.

“The last two weeks obviously haven't gone our way, but it's in the room and it's on us to just pull it out and get it done. But, it starts with one game at a time. We can't worry about what other teams do or whoever we have after Detroit (at the Red Wings on Tuesday). Our focus just has to be on Detroit, and after that we'll figure it out.” 

Provorov made it 1-0 at 1:17 of the first period on the Blue Jackets’ first shot of the game when Mason Marchment pushed Winnipeg defenseman Dylan Samberg off the puck and fed Provorov from below the goal line as the defenseman was coming down the slot.

Connor tied it 1-1 at 18:14 of the second period. He was in the right circle when he passed down to Scheifele, then skated toward the net and took the return pass before shooting to the far side.

The Blue Jackets went 25:32 without a shot on goal from 9:48 of the first period to 15:44 of the second when Denton Mateychuk had their fifth of the game. Columbus was outshot 9-3 in the second period.

Columbus had 10 shots on goal in a 5-1 loss at the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday and has scored 13 goals in its past eight games. 

“We create the second most chances on the forecheck in the entire League,” Blue Jackets coach Rick Bowness said. “Yet we want to get inside the blue line and make cute little plays against good teams that aren't working. And they're not working.

“So, I have to get after them. They've got to change their mindset. We're a north, hard-skating pressure team.”

The Blue Jackets had a 6-on-4 with nine seconds left with Greaves off and Scheifele in the penalty box for tripping on the Jets’ lone penalty of the game.

Boone Jenner won the draw to Werenski. He passed to Adam Fantilli in the right circle for a one-timer  that Hellebuyck saved with six seconds left.

“We did a lot of great things and deserved the two points,” Jets coach Scott Arniel said. “When you go more than 25 minutes without allowing a shot at this time of year, it says a lot about the way your structure was. Yeah, it's tough for your goalie when he's standing there not getting anything for that long, but at the end of the day, we needed him at the end.”