Pittsburgh Penguins fall to unbeaten Winnipeg Jets as goalie woes continue
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Winnipeg Jets' Mark Scheifele (55) scores on Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic (39) as Ryan Graves (27) and Noel Acciari (55) defend during second period NHL hockey action in Winnipeg, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)
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Winnipeg Jets' Kyle Connor (81) celebrates his goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins with teammates Colin Miller (6) and Vladislav Namestnikov (7) during second period NHL hockey action in Winnipeg, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)
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Winnipeg Jets' Vladislav Namestnikov (7) celebrates his goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins with Nikolaj Ehlers (27) during second period NHL hockey action in Winnipeg, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)
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Winnipeg Jets' Kyle Connor (81) celebrates his goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins during second period NHL hockey action in Winnipeg, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)
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Pittsburgh Penguins' Erik Karlsson (65) checks Winnipeg Jets' Morgan Barron (36) in front of goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic (39) during second period NHL hockey action in Winnipeg, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)
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Pittsburgh Penguins' goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic makes a save on Winnipeg Jets' Nino Niederreiter (62) during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)
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Winnipeg Jets' Mark Scheifele (55) runs into Pittsburgh Penguins' goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic (39) after scoring during second period NHL hockey action in Winnipeg, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)
WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Adam Lowry and Mason Appleton scored a pair of quick third-period goals to help the Winnipeg Jets defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-3 Sunday to remain the only unbeaten NHL team.
The victory extended Winnipeg’s franchise-record, season-opening win streak to five games.
Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele, Vladislav Namestnikov and Nino Niederreiter, into an empty net, also scored for Winnipeg (5-0-0).
Appleton had an assist along with his goal. Nikolaj Ehlers, Colin Miller and Josh Morrissey each contributed two assists.
Pittsburgh (3-4-0) led 2-0 in the second period with goals from Lars Eller and Kevin Hayes. Eller scored a second goal to tie the game at 3 early in the third period before Winnipeg scored three in a row to secure the win.
Both teams had backup goaltenders making their first starts of the season.
Eric Comrie made 38 saves for Winnipeg, while Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 31 shots for Pittsburgh.
Jets: Winnipeg is getting scoring from all lines and different players. Twelve players have goals this season.
Penguins: Pittsburgh’s question marks in net continued with the third different starter in as many games. Tristan Jarry (healthy scratch) had started Wednesday’s game against Buffalo but was pulled in favor of rookie Joel Blomqvist, who got the nod to start Friday’s game versus Carolina. Nedeljkovic was called up from a conditioning stint in the AHL to start against the Jets.
After Eller tied the game at 3 1:39 into the third, Jets captain Lowry won the faceoff, then capitalized on a puck that bounced off Appleton to score for the 4-3 lead at 4:20. Appleton found the back of the net at 7:41.
Connor has scored a goal in three straight games and is on a five-game point streak (four goals, one assist).
The Penguins play the second game of a four-game road trip at Calgary Tuesday.
