OTTAWA — Four different Winnipeg players scored as the Jets defeated the Ottawa Senators 4-1 on Thursday night at Canadian Tire Centre.
Nikolaj Ehlers, Mark Scheifele, Adam Lowry and Blake Wheeler tallied as the Jets (3-1-0) controlled most of the game. Ehlers and Scheifele had two points apiece.
Chris Tierney ended Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck’s shutout bid at 17:03 of the third period.
The Senators (1-2-1) looked flat throughout the contest and simply made too many careless mistakes. Winnipeg was coming off a 4-3 overtime win over Ottawa on Tuesday night.
Ehlers opened the scoring at 11:50 with a low wrist shot from the high slot. The puck went between the legs of netminder Matt Murray, who was partially screened.
Ehlers helped make it a 2-0 game early in the second period. He made a pass from the corner to Kyle Connor, who directed it to the side of the goal for Scheifele to sweep in at 4:22.
Scheifele took advantage of some lax defending by Thomas Chabot, who was a minus-3 on the night.
The Jets pulled away with two more goals later in the stanza.
Derek Forbort made a crafty bank pass off the side boards to spring Trevor Lewis, who deked Murray but watched the puck hit the post. Lowry banged it in at 7:05.
An Ottawa timeout did little to stem the momentum.
Moments later, Connor knocked down a poor clearing attempt by Chabot and flipped it to Scheifele for a one-time pass to Wheeler, who made it 4-0 at 13:55.
Hellebuyck, meanwhile, was steady when needed. His best stop came early in the third period when he stacked the pads to deny Connor Brown on a breakaway.
Netminder Marcus Hogberg played the final 20 minutes for Ottawa. The Jets outshot the Senators 29-28.
Centre Colin White was back in the lineup after being scratched in two of Ottawa’s first three games. Defenceman Ville Heinola made his season debut for Winnipeg.
Ottawa rookie Tim Stutzle and Winnipeg sniper Patrik Laine were out with injuries.
The teams will face off again Saturday at Bell MTS Centre. It will be the opener of a seven-game road trip for the Senators.
