Jets hand Coyotes ninth straight defeat

Pierre-Luc Dubois and Blake Wheeler scored in the second period on Sunday night as the Winnipeg Jets defeated the visiting Arizona Coyotes, 2-1.

It was Arizona's ninth straight loss, while the Jets won for the eighth time in their last nine games.

Connor Hellebuyck made 20 saves for the victory.

Clayton Keller was the only goal-scorer for the Coyotes. Karel Vejmelka, in net for Arizona, made 22 stops.

The Jets set a fast pace out of the gate, but the Coyotes defense held strong, backed up by Vejmelka, who had to be sharp early on.

Arizona grabbed momentum after Kevin Stenlund took a high-sticking double minor against Keller with 8:44 remaining in the opening period. The Coyotes, however, were unable to capitalize on the long power play, stymied by the Jets' fourth-best penalty kill in the league, which entered the game running at 83.5 percent.

The shot clock after 20 minutes registered 12-4 in favor of Winnipeg, but the game remained scoreless.

Winnipeg opened the scoring 37 seconds into the second period on a power play that carried over from late in the first period, off Lawson Crouse's trip on Mark Scheifele. While net-front, Dubois tipped in a shot from the point by Josh Morrissey. Nikolaj Ehlers picked up the secondary assist.

It was Dubois' 20th goal and Morrissey's 40th assist of the season.

The Coyotes evened up the game on their first shot on goal in the second period. It came with 8:58 on the clock, when Keller waited out Hellebuyck and patiently put the puck into the open net, making it 1-1. Nick Schmaltz and Jakob Chychrun picked up helpers.

Before the period was out, the Jets struck back, scoring the eventual game-winner. With 3:15 left in the middle frame, Wheeler got Winnipeg back in front, 2-1, after connecting with linemates Scheifele and Cole Perfetti off the rush.

Hellebuyck made eight saves in the third period to preserve Winnipeg's lead.