Cole Perfetti is on an offensive tear, scoring his fifth goal in as many games on Friday night to lead the Winnipeg Jets to a 3-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Friday night.
The young Canadian scored just 2:12 into the game — his sixth tally of the season — which extended his point streak to eight games. He has five goals and five assists in that span as he continues to break out in 2023-24.
“I put an emphasis a bit more on shooting the puck, especially when the puck seems to be going in the back of the net,” the 21-year-old said afterwards, according to The Associated Press.
A former No. 10 overall pick by the Jets in the 2020 NHL Draft, Perfetti was solid in his rookie season, scoring eight goals and 30 points over 51 games in 2022-23. He looks poised to shatter those numbers this year, as he's already up to 14 points in just 16 affairs in 2023-24.
“I feel better this year,” Perfetti admitted. “Even now from the beginning of the season, 16 games in, I feel like it is getting better each and every game. It’s been good.”
Jets starting a winning streak
Mason Appleton and Nikolaj Ehlers also scored for the Jets on Friday night, while Nino Niederreiter and Vladislav Namestnikov potted two assists apiece. Connor Hellebuyck turned aside 25 Sabres shots.
Winnipeg has now won two games in a row to remain in third place in the Central Division, and just a point away from leapfrogging the Colorado Avalanche for the No. 2 spot.
Despite the win, the Jets directed just 18 shots on Buffalo netminder Eric Comrie.
“I thought there were a few times where I thought we should have fired the puck,” said interim head coach Scott Arniel.
“But when you go 11 minutes without a shot in the second period, you’ve got to simplify things a little bit. We did score those goals and they kind of came off transition. But you’ve got to give Buffalo credit, they were real good at stealing pucks, knocking pucks out of the air.”
Still, the Jets found a way to improve to 9-5-2 on the campaign, and they'll look to make it three straight victories when they end a five-game homestand with the Arizona Coyotes in town on Saturday.
Follow Us
Subscribe