Chris Thorburn scored a shorthanded goal with 8:51 remaining in the third period as the Winnipeg Jets defeated the Arizona Coyotes 3-2 Saturday night at MTS Centre.

After chasing down Michael Stone deep into the Coyotes zone, Thorburn muscled Arizona defenseman off the puck and then flipped a backhand past Anders Lindback from close range.

Mark Scheifele and Dustin Byfuglien also scored for the Jets.

Byfuglien's sixth of the season at 12:48 of the second period tied the game at 2-2.

"It was big, just sticking to our game plan and not getting away from it" Byfuglien said. "We’re weren’t getting the results we wanted right off the hop. We fell behind and we battled back and it was back and forth. We stuck to our game plan and that’s a big thing for us. We battled all 60 for us, and we got our two points."

Shane Doan and Connor Murphy scored first period power play goals for the Coyotes.

Winnipeg starting goaltender Ondrej Pavelec suffered a lower-body injury late in the second period.

Doan was driving to the net and collided with Pavelec who played the remainder of the period but gave way to Michael Hutchinson to start the third.

The Jets (10-9-2) will wrap up their three-game homestand Monday against the Colorado Avalanche.


photos by Ray Peters