Teammates 'wowed' after Perfetti fires wrist shot past Vancouver in Jets' 3-1 victory

Judy Owen · The Canadian Press

· Posted: Mar 30, 2025 8:39 PM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

Cole Perfetti got rewarded for not giving up.

Perfetti's third-period extremity successful a 3-1 Winnipeg Jets' triumph implicit the Vancouver Canucks connected Sunday had the sellout assemblage cheering and his teammates impressed.

The 23-year-old merchandise of Whitby, Ont., moved the puck done defenceman Derek Forbort's legs and past fired a wrist changeable past Vancouver goalie Thatcher Demko.

"I've tried it a mates times present and there. It's ne'er worked retired to beryllium a goal, but I've got astir the feline a mates times," said Perfetti, who recorded his 16th extremity of the season.

"But, yeah, it's conscionable benignant of much assurance and conscionable acquisition of knowing erstwhile you cognize the timing of everything. Not a play that you're going to marque astir of the time, but erstwhile successful a portion it's bully to bash that."

Kyle Connor had a extremity and an assistance and Mason Appleton besides scored successful the team's 3rd consecutive victory.

"I deliberation everyone benignant of gives each different that wow look," Appleton said of the players' absorption to Perfetti's goal.

"You don't spot goals similar that excessively often. Obviously, Fetts' is simply a super-skilled player. He made a large determination and the decorativeness was conscionable arsenic impressive. We were each wowed and looking for him to grin there."

Jets pb successful Western Conference, Central Division

The Jets gained immoderate invaluable abstraction betwixt their nearest rival successful the NHL standings.

Winnipeg's 106 points (51-19-4) leads the Western Conference and Central Division, six points up of idle Dallas. The Stars person a crippled successful hand.

The Jets besides stay archetypal wide successful the league aft Washington (103 points) mislaid 8-5 to the Buffalo Sabres connected Sunday. The Capitals person a crippled successful hand.

Connor Hellebuyck made 23 saves for the Jets successful beforehand of a 5th consecutive sellout assemblage of 15,225 astatine Canada Life Centre.

Pius Suter scored his 22nd of the play for the Canucks (34-27-13) and Thatcher Demko stopped 24 shots arsenic the squad ended its six-game roadworthy travel with a 2-2-2 record.

Vancouver is inactive warring for the 2nd wild-card spot successful the conference, six points backmost of some the Minnesota Wild and surging St. Louis Blues, who didn't play Sunday. The Canucks and Wild each person a crippled successful manus connected the Blues.

"You cognize the large picture, obviously," Suter said. "But you tin lone absorption connected 1 crippled astatine a clip and conscionable conflict hard and marque definite the adjacent crippled we get 2 points retired there, and past spell from there.

"You can't truly deliberation excessively overmuch astatine this constituent astir each the different teams. You've conscionable got to win."

Suter scored from the slot with 1:05 remaining successful the opening period, a extremity upheld aft a Winnipeg situation for offside.

Canucks caput manager Rick Tocchet praised his players for their effort.

"I thought they played hard," helium said. "Came down to benignant of a goalmouth scramble.

"But I thought for the astir portion — that's a bully hockey squad that has a accidental to triumph a (Stanley) Cup, and I thought we went head-to-head with them truly well."

Connor tied it astatine 9:26 of the 2nd to grounds his team-leading 38th extremity of the season. He's reached 90 points for the 2nd clip successful his career, 3 points disconnected his career-best.

After Appleton scored the 2-1 extremity astatine 6:24 of the third, fourth-year winger Perfetti dazzled with his marker conscionable nether six minutes later.

"Pretty impressive," Jets caput manager Scott Arniel said of Perfetti's goal. "I'm not definite that defenceman was acceptable oregon expecting him to bash that. He makes a large move, but then, that was a heck of a shot."

Winnipeg ended its four-game homestand going 3-1-0 and caput retired for a three-game roadworthy trip, starting Tuesday against the Los Angeles King. The Canucks big the Seattle Kraken connected Wednesday.