For the first time in two and a half years, Jonathan Toews has scored a goal in the NHL.
The 37-year-old tallied his first with his hometown team, part of a third period comeback as the Winnipeg Jets downed the Flames 2-1 Monday night, extending their win streak to five games.
Neither team scored in the first, thanks in large part to the Jets’ penalty kill. Coming into the game having killed 18 in a row, dating back to their opening game against Dallas, the Jets killed off a pair of penalties in the first as well as another that carried over into the second.
In that middle frame, it was Winnipeg’s turn to falter with the man advantage, failing to convert on three opportunities. After 40 minutes, both teams were 0-for-4 on the power play.
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But the Flames were able to draw first blood at even strength at the 13:22 mark of the second.
Calgary’s fourth line won a battle for the puck below the goal line before Adam Klapka slid the puck back to the point. Rasmus Andersson let a shot go from the blue line that eluded Connor Hellebuyck thanks in large part to a perfect net-front screen from Ryan Lomberg.
Winnipeg held a slight 22-21 edge in shots on goal through 40 minutes and thanks to another power play early in the third, they finally cashed in to tie the game.
That’s when Toews deflected a point shot from Neal Pionk for his first goal since Apr. 13, 2023 to tie the game at the 2:41 mark of the third.
The game opened up over the course of the third with teams skating up and down the ice for minutes on end without a whistle.
After nearly three minutes without a break, Mark Scheifele picked up the puck in his own end off a Hellebuyck save and skated it up the ice with Kyle Connor. Connor carried it into the Flames’ end along the wall as Scheifele cut to the net, and he steered home a pass from Connor that beat Dustin Wolf for his seventh of the season with 4:54 to go.
The Flames hit the post not long after and had a power play in the dying seconds but couldn’t beat Hellebuyck again as he turned aside 32 shots and was named the game’s first star.
Winnipeg will return home to try and make it six straight when they host Seattle on Thursday.
