Winnipeg Jets' Gabriel Vilardi (13) scores on Vancouver Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko (35) during first period NHL action in Winnipeg on Thursday, April 18, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods
WINNIPEG – Nikita Chibrikov scored the game-winner in his NHL debut and Cole Perfetti tallied a pair of goals as the Winnipeg Jets defeated the Vancouver Canucks 4-2 to close out their regular seasons on Thursday.
The victory produced some notable accomplishments in front of the ninth sellout crowd of the season at Canada Life Centre.
The Jets finished the regular season giving up 199 total goals, the fewest in the NHL and one less than the Florida Panthers, to earn the league’s William M. Jennings Trophy.
They also extended their win streak to eight games, tying the franchise record. Their 52 victories (52-24-6) also matched the franchise record for wins in a season with the 2017-18 squad.
Winnipeg’s 110 points – the most by any Canadian team this season – also gave the Jets second place in the Western Conference behind Dallas and home-ice advantage in the first three rounds of the playoffs against teams other than the Stars.
Gabe Vilardi also scored for the Jets, who won the season series against the Canucks 2-1, and Laurent Brossoit made 18 saves for his 15th win of the season in his 23rd game.
Conor Garland had a goal and assist for the Canucks (50-23-9). Elias Lindholm scored on the power play.
Thatcher Demko stopped 22 of 25 shots in his second straight start in net for Vancouver after returning from a 14-game absence because of a knee injury.
The Canucks snapped a two-game win streak and finished 3-1-1 in their last five games.
Both clubs rested players as they prepare for the first round of the NHL playoffs. Winnipeg takes on the Colorado Avalanche and Vancouver faces the Nashville Predators.
The Jets were without top-line forwards Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor, as well as star defenceman Josh Morrissey and starting goalie Connor Hellebuyck. The Canucks sat forwards J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser.
The game was tied 1-1 after the first period and 2-2 heading into the third.
Vancouver’s first shot of the game was a deflection off Garland from a Jets clearing attempt at 5:22, giving him 20 goals this season.
Vilardi tied it up six minutes later when he skated across the crease with the puck, turned and flipped it over a splayed-out Demko for his 22nd marker.
Perfetti made it 2-1 just 55 seconds into the middle frame on a 3-on-1, recording his 18th of the season.
Lindholm’s tip of a Quinn Hughes shot 25 seconds into a power play tied it up at 17:11.
Perfetti scored into the empty net with 2:05 left in the third to seal the win.
PARTICIPATION RIBBON
Jets forward Sean Monahan had the distinction of playing in his 83rd game of the season – the only player in the league to reach that mark.
Monahan was acquired in a Feb. 2 trade with Montreal after playing 49 games with the Canadiens. Thursday was his 34th for Winnipeg.
He could have skated in 84 games, but missed one Jets game because he was sick.
NHL DEBUTS
Winnipeg used its regular-season finale to call up some players from the Manitoba Moose before the American Hockey League playoffs begin.
Forwards Brad Lambert and Chibrikov made their NHL debuts. Goalie Collin Delia backed up Brossoit.
While Chibrikov scored a goal, the Finnish-born Lambert also recorded his first point with an assist on Vilardi’s goal.
UP NEXT
Jets: Host Colorado Avalanche in Game 1 of their NHL first-round playoff series, with the schedule yet to be determined.
Canucks: Host Nashville Predators in Game 1 of their opening series, with the schedule yet to be determined.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 18, 2024.
