Tavares gets hat trick, Maple Leafs end Jets season-opening winning streak at 8
Nylander, Pacioretty each has 3 points; Connor gets 2 goals, assist for Winnipeg
Maple Leafs at Jets | Recap
WINNIPEG — John Tavares had a hat trick for the Toronto Maple Leafs, who ended the Winnipeg Jets’ season-opening eight-game winning streak with a 6-4 win at Canada Life Centre on Monday.
William Nylander had a goal and two assists, and Max Pacioretty had three assists for the Maple Leafs (5-4-1), who had lost three straight games (0-2-1). Anthony Stolarz made 19 saves.
Kyle Connor had two goals and an assist for the Jets (8-1-0), whose regular season win streak dating back to last season ended at 16 games. Connor Hellebuyck made 30 saves, and Josh Morrissey had three assists.
Tavares gave the Maple Leafs a 1-0 lead at 11:56 of the first period when Pacioretty slid the puck across the crease with a one-handed backhand for Tavares to tap in.
Nylander made it 2-0 at 17:47, scoring with a snap shot from the slot.
Matthew Knies pushed it to 3-0 just 56 seconds into the second period when he found a rebound from an Auston Matthews’ shot and put it into an open net.
Morgan Reilly then made it 4-0 at 3:25 with a wrist shot from the slot off a no-look backhanded pass from Nylander.
Connor scored two power-play goals in the second period to make it a two-goal game. He made it 4-1 with a snap shot from below the left face-off dot at 6:19, then cut it to 4-2 at 11:25 with a one-timer from above the right face-off dot.
Tavares pushed it to 5-2 at 17:53, batting in a loose puck at the left post after Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s shot came back off the end boards.
Mark Scheifele cut it to 5-3 at 7:36 of the third when Connor found him with a cross-ice pass for a one-timer from the right circle with Hellebuyck on the bench for an extra attacker on a delayed penalty.
Connor cut it to 5-4 at 16:13 with a snap shot from the left circle, but Tavares completed his hat trick with an empty-net goal at 19:35 for the 6-4 final.