Winnipeg Jets Defeat Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1 in Perfect Team Effort – Hockey Writers – Winnipeg Jets

The Winnipeg Jets defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1 at PPG Paints Arena on Friday night in a strong team effort. The league-leading Jets had four separate goals in the win and improved their record to 17-3-0; the Penguins fell to 7-11-4.

Jets Take Off Soon, Cruise to Victory

Nino Niederreiter opened the scoring at 82 seconds, sliding the puck past Tristan Jarry from tight end. Niederreiter got the puck after Mason Appleton’s hard foreskin forced Evgeni Malkin to turn it over.

The Jets scored twice in the second to extend their streak to three. First, Vladislav Namestnikov gave himself the gift of a goal on his 32nd birthday, putting in a rebound of his own to make the run four-two at 4:53. Then, in the last minute with Malkin in Gabriel Vilardi’s box, Vilardi had the last laugh with a stoppage-time shot from the top.

PPG on PPG 🎨 pic.twitter.com/G6lgk6MRgP

– Winnipeg Jets (@NHLJets) November 23, 2024

At the beginning of the third, two unusual battles in Sidney Crosby and the winner of the 2022 Lady Byng Trophy Kyle Connor threw down the gloves in a short battle. Crosby — who seemed frustrated by his team’s lackluster effort up until that point — ended up getting an extra-checking penalty, but the Penguins killed the youngster. It was Connor’s first fight in his nine-year career.

Related: Winnipeg Jets Notebook: Top Line Success, Split With Panthers, And Tough Journey Ahead

The Penguins cut the Jets’ lead to 3-1 with a power-play goal at 5:49, when Michael Bunting put home Bryan Rust’s pass.

That’s as close as the Penguins would get, however, as Connor closed out the game leaving an empty net with 1:11 left to retake the team lead with 13 goals and complete Gordie Howe’s improbable hat trick.

Notes and Observations

Crosby entered the tournament with 599 career goals, but he would have to wait another game to reach another milestone in his storied career.

Josh Morrissey recorded his 20th point of the season with the second assist on Vilardi’s goal. He and Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche are the only defensemen with 20 or more points this season.

Connor Hellebuyck, recently voted the favorite at the quarter mark for the 2025 Vezina Trophy, made 17 saves for his 14th win of the season and had an easy night overall. Jarry made 26 saves on 29 shots.

The Jets and Penguins both went one-for-three with the man advantage.

The Jets are 10-0-0 this season when scoring first.

Attendance was 15,232, well below PPG’s hockey capacity of 18,187.

The Jets are back in action tomorrow as they head to Nashville to take on the Predators in the second half of a back-to-back and the second of their six-game road trip all season. The Penguins are also back in action tomorrow as they host the Utah Hockey Club in the fourth game of a five-game homestand.