Tavares gets hat trick, Maple Leafs end Jets season-opening winning streak at 8

John Tavares had a hat trick for the Toronto Maple Leafs, who ended the Winnipeg Jets’ season-opening eight-game winning streak with a 6-4 win at Canada Life Centre on Monday.

“I just liked our pace with our feet, with the puck, without the puck and the way we moved the puck as well,” Tavares said. “The way we were able to use the open parts of the ice, get into the interior and make it difficult on their goalie. We drew some penalties early, so I just really liked the energy and pace of our game today.”

William Nylander had a goal and two assists, and Max Pacioretty had three assists for the Maple Leafs (5-4-1), who had lost three straight games (0-2-1). Anthony Stolarz made 19 saves.

“That’s exactly what we needed, for sure, especially coming into this building,” Toronto coach Craig Berube said. “It’s a tough building and a very good team we’re playing tonight. I liked our mindset right away in the game of playing fast and quick and north. Good forechecks. We got pucks to the net that we hounded after. We were just on top of things.”

Kyle Connor had two goals and two assists, and Gabriel Vilardi and Mark Scheifele each had a goal and an assist for the Jets (8-1-0). Connor Hellebuyck made 30 saves, and Josh Morrissey had three assists.

“Toronto was a heck of a lot better than we were,” Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said. “They wanted it. They came in here and gave us a punch right in the nose in the first two periods. It was a little late when we responded, but it’s not good enough. We didn’t come out the way we wanted to come out.”

Tavares gave the Maple Leafs a 1-0 lead at 11:56 of the first period, tapping in the puck after Pacioretty slid the puck across the crease with a one hand on his backhand.

“I think it’s just the pace, just the way we were able to get on top of them and cause turnovers, and just being connected,” Tavares said. “It’s not just one guy, it’s the second guy coming in after to stall the puck or to get a deflection on it. Just to create a battle and opportunity to win it back.”

Nylander made it 2-0 at 17:47, scoring with a snap shot from the slot.

“We were able to capitalize on the chances we got,” Nylander said. “Great play by [Pacioretty] on the first goal to get us going. Gave John [Tavares] a backdoor tap-in.”

Matthew Knies pushed it to 3-0 just 56 seconds into the second period when he found the rebound of Auston Matthews’s shot and put it into an open net.

“We knew they were a good team,” Knies said. “We knew coming into it they were up a few, and obviously you’re in an away barn. Obviously, you want to get the pressure on them early, kind of silence the crowd a little bit. But I think we did a really good job of that and I think that’s what gave us an early jump in the game.”

Morgan Rielly then made it 4-0 at 3:25 with a wrist shot from the slot off a no-look backhand pass from Nylander after Pacioretty pulled the puck out of the corner.

“[Pacioretty] did an amazing job working really hard, winning pucks back and making some really nice plays,” Nylander said. “We just meshed together off the hop, so it was nice.”

Connor scored two power-play goals in the second period to make it a two-goal game. He made it 4-1 with a snap shot from below the left face-off dot at 6:19, then cut it to 4-2 at 11:25 with a one-timer from the right circle.

“It was a tough game for us,” Morrissey said. “Obviously, we got behind it 4-0 there with almost two periods to play. Felt like we did a good job of battling back there to make it 4-2, sort of got our legs going, then obviously let in another one. But we never quit throughout the night. We were 8-0 for a reason, we’re 8-1 for a reason. But that compete to battle back and make it a game so that we can pull the goalie and see if we could try to tie it up, I think that’s the character of our group. We’ll look at what we need to get better at, get some rest and move on.”

Tavares pushed it to 5-2 at 17:53 of the second, batting in the loose puck at the left post after Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s shot came back off the end boards.

“I know for me I can be a little bit sharper,” Tavares said. “Just some differences that I’ve got to be better with. … I think, like the rest of our game, we just had more jump. The pace was a lot better and just the way we were moving and moving the puck.”

Scheifele cut it to 5-3 at 7:36 of the third, scoring with a one-timer from the right circle off a cross-ice pass from Connor with Hellebuyck on the bench for an extra attacker during a delayed penalty.

“We just didn’t have the jump we needed,” Connor said. “I thought they were a lot quicker to pucks. We just looked slow.”

Vilardi cut it to 5-4 at 16:13 when he tipped Connor’s shot from the left circle, but Tavares completed the hat trick with an empty-net goal at 19:35 for the 6-4 final.

“We believe that we’re a great hockey team,” Morrissey said. “We believe in each other and our systems, and it’s given us a chance to have a good start to the season. … I was proud of the way we fought back. And you know, we’re going to need that effort all year long.”

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