The Winnipeg Jets recorded their 40th win of the season Saturday afternoon at MTS Centre.

Lee Stempniak scored twice and Mathieu Perreault had three assists as the Jets held on for a 5-4 victory over the Vancouver Canucks.

“There’s no easy breathing in there for that one,” said Winnipeg head coach Paul Maurice. “But good to win a game like that, obviously. Yeah a lot of tension there, you could see it in some of the puck movement there in the third especially I thought. We had some good momentum I thought at 5-3 we did a real good job up until the last two minutes until the goalie came out. They do have some special players there. You could see it off their attack, their ability to kick the puck wide. Some good hands, there’s some real good skilled players. But good win.”

Jim Slater, Michael Frolik and Mark Scheifele also scored for the Jets who snapped a two-game losing skid.

Daniel Sedin had a goal and two helpers for the Canucks.

Winnipeg goaltender Ondrej Pavelec stopped 26 shots including second period breakaways by Radim Vrbata and Bo Horvat.

The Jets begin a three-game road trip Monday against the Minnesota Wild in St. Paul.

Winnipeg (40-26-12) will also meet the St. Louis Blues and Colorado Avalanche and will play their regular season finale against the Calgary Flames on Saturday, April 11th at MTS Centre.






photos by Ray Peters