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Saturday, March 31, 2018

{allcanada} Morrissey, Byfuglien lead Jets past Maple Leafs, 3-1

 

TORONTO (AP) Josh Morrissey and Dustin Byfuglien scored 1:10 apart in the second period as the Winnipeg Jets beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1 on Saturday night.

Andrew Copp had the other goal for Winnipeg, while Connor Hellebuyck stopped 28 shots in a matchup of the only two Canadian teams headed to the playoffs.

Patrick Marleau scored for Toronto, and Curtis McElhinney had 26 saves.

The Maple Leafs, who won 7-2 in Winnipeg to open the season on Oct. 4, are all but assured of finishing third in the Atlantic Division. The Jets, meanwhile, look just as certain to wind up second in the Central.

Toronto's only blemish at home in more than two months coming into this game was Monday's 3-2 loss to last-place Buffalo that snapped a 13-game winning streak at Air Canada Centre.

The Leafs rebounded with a 4-2 victory at home against Florida on Wednesday before Friday's 5-4 win at the New York Islanders. Winnipeg saw a six-game win streak snapped in Thursday's 6-2 loss at Chicago

Scoreless after a first period lacking much in the way of emotion, Toronto grabbed a 1-0 lead just 2:02 into the second when the league's third-ranked power play went to work. Auston Matthews looked primed to shoot on Hellebuyck from the left faceoff circle, but passed to Marleau, who redirected his 26th of the season home from the top of the crease.

After a pad stop on Blake Wheeler's deflection later in the period, McElhinney could do nothing at 8:30 when Morrissey's blast from the point past a screen caught him moving the wrong way for the defenseman's sixth.

McElhinney was then run into by Winnipeg's Mark Scheifele after he stopped Wheeler's breakaway seconds later, but no penalty was called on the play.

Playing without rookie defenseman Travis Dermott because of a lower-body injury suffered in the first, the Leafs went to the penalty kill when play resumed after Jake Gardiner cross-checked Scheifele hard into the boards, much to the chagrin of home crowd.

The Jets' power play - which was fourth overall coming in - went to work, and Byfuglien snapped his seventh off the post and in past a screened McElhinney at 9:40.

Winnipeg pulled ahead 3-1 seemingly out of nothing on a broken play with 2:26 left in the period when Copp fired his sixth shortside off a pass from Adam Lowry.

Playing the second of a back-to-back, McElhinney saw his first action in place of Frederik Andersen since making 33 saves in a 4-0 win over Montreal on March 17.

Toronto went back to the man advantage midway through the final period after Winnipeg was whistled for too many men, but neither unit could connect despite extended zone time.

The Leafs pressed further with McElhinney out for an extra attacker, but couldn't find a way past Hellebuyck before Ron Hainsey took a holding penalty on Copp with 67 seconds left in regulation to kill any hope of a comeback.

Hellebuyck had to be sharp to snag Nazem Kadri's deflection of a shot by Marleau midway through the first before also blocking Connor Brown's batted effort and rebound chance from in close with under two minutes left.

Brown had another opportunity with Hellebuyck swimming in his crease moments later, but couldn't quite find the handle on a loose puck.

NOTES: Toronto came in 8-2 over its last 10. ... Leafs forward Mitch Marner saw his 11-game point streak (five goals, 11 assists) come to an end. ... Leo Komarov replaced Andreas Johnsson on Toronto's fourth line after missing seven games with a lower-body injury. ... Winnipeg D Jacob Trouba (concussion) returned to the lineup following a five-game absence.

UP NEXT

Jets: At Ottawa on Monday night.

Maple Leafs: Host Buffalo on Monday night.

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