Mark Scheifele and Dawson Mercer each scored twice as the Winnipeg Jets erased an early deficit to beat the Dallas Stars 8-3 at American Airlines Center on Thursday. Winnipeg scored five goals in the second period and added three more in the third to run away with the win.
Dallas opened the scoring in the first period when Arttu Hyry beat Stuart Skinner with a snap shot at 4:19, assisted by Roope Hintz and Thomas Harley. Hintz widened the lead to 2-0 at 18:32 on a backhand shot setup by Jason Robertson and Nils Lundkvist. Winnipeg responded quickly in the second period. Dylan Samberg snapped an unassisted goal past Jake Oettinger at 1:11, and Scheifele followed with another unassisted tally at 7:03 to tie the game at 2-2.
David Perron deflected in his first goal of the season at 11:14 off assists from Harley and Lundkvist to restore a 3-2 lead for Dallas. From there, the Jets took control with six unanswered goals. Mercer evened the score at 3-3 at 13:55 before Scheifele snapped home a go-ahead power-play goal at 18:12. Mercer struck again with nine seconds remaining in the middle period to give Winnipeg a 5-3 lead going into the second intermission.
Kyle Connor opened the third period with a snap goal just 1:00 in, making it 6-3. Gabriel Vilardi scored at 15:12, and Cole Koepke followed 14 seconds later at 15:26 with another snap shot to cap the scoring at 8-3. Vilardi and Connor each finished with a goal and two assists, joining Scheifele with three-point nights.
Skinner stopped 30 of 33 shots to earn the victory for Winnipeg. Oettinger took the loss for Dallas after allowing six goals on 27 shots through the opening minute of the third period. Casey DeSmith made one save on three shots in relief. The Jets finished 1-for-3 on the power play, while the Stars came up empty on two man-advantage opportunities.
The victory extended Winnipeg's winning streak to five games and improved their record to 9-8-3. Dallas fell to 10-6-2. The teams split their two-game season series after Dallas won the first matchup 3-2 in overtime on Oct. 22.
Winnipeg continues its schedule on Saturday when it visits the Chicago Blackhawks at 3:30 PM ET. Dallas remains home to host the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday at 8:00 PM ET.
