Penguins 4 Jets 3
WINNIPEG — Zach Aston-Reese capped off a third-period rally as the Pittsburgh Penguins downed the Winnipeg Jets 4-3 on Tuesday night.
Sidney Crosby, Riley Sheahan and Derek Grant also scored for the Penguins (10-8-5).
Mark Scheifele scored twice for the Jets (13-8-2) and Brandon Tanev had another.
Tanev got things started for the Jets at 7:01 with his fourth goal of the season, coming on a short-handed breakaway with a wraparound that beat Casey DeSmith.
Crosby tied it up at the 18:13 mark of the first period with a slick up-close backhander that fooled Jets netminder Connor Hellebuyck. It was Crosby’s 10th goal this season.
Scheifele put the Jets back in the lead just 39 seconds into the second period on a feed from captain Blake Wheeler.
But that only lasted until Sheahan got credit for poking a loose puck over the line, after Hellebuyck failed to corral it at 4:40.
Wheeler also set up Scheifele’s second goal of the night and 13th of the season, that rocketed past DeSmith before he had much time to react at 16:00.
Grant evened things up once more for the Penguins at 5:08 of the third with his first goal of the season that found the five-hole.
Phil Kessel then set up Aston-Reese for his second goal of the season with a perfect pass to the front of the net at 14:48.
DeSmith has been thrust into the starter’s job for the Penguins as Stanley-Cup winning netminder Matt Murray is sidelined with a lower-body injury, after time off due to a concussion earlier this season.