Kyle Connor scored his 16th goal of the season and drew a pair of assists as the Winnipeg Jets defeated the Detroit Red Wings 4-2 Friday night at Bell MTS Place.

Brandon Tanev and Jets captain Blake Wheeler scored in the first period and Bryan Little notched his 500th career point when he beat Red Wings netminder Jonathan Bernier at 4:51 of the middle frame.

Detroit cut the deficit to 3-2 thanks to a shorthanded goal from Luke Glendening and a power play marker from Dennis Cholowski but Connor sealed the deal with an empty net goal with 60 seconds remaining in regulation.

Winnipeg goaltender Laurent Brossoit stopped 33 shots including a third period breakaway by Andreas Athanasiou.

Brossoit won for the ninth time in 10 starts this season.

The Jets (28-14-2) host the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday.


photos courtesy Ray Peters