San Jose Sharks beat Jets to end 4-game win streak for Winnipeg

Kyle Connor misses game with lower-body injury that happened in Sunday win against Anaheim

Image | Jets Sharks Hockey

Caption: Winnipeg Jets defenceman Brenden Dillon, left, celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal against the San Jose Sharks during the first period in San Jose, Calif., on Tuesday night. (Godofredo A. Vásquez/The Associated Press)

William Eklund scored a tiebreaking power-play goal with 4:51 remaining in the third period and the San Jose Sharks beat the Winnipeg Jets 2-1 on Tuesday night.
Justin Bailey had a goal for San Jose, his first since March 2018 with Buffalo. Mikael Granlund added an assist to extend his point streak to six games.
"It's a great power play there," Eklund said of his goal. "I think we had a lot of opportunities before. Granny does a great play there of getting it over to me and I tried to rip it."
Brenden Dillon scored for Winnipeg, which had a four-game winning streak snapped. Dillon spent six seasons with San Jose, from 2014-20.
"I loved my time here," he said. "I'm one of the proudest Sharks alumni ever.... Nice to score in this building. I've had a couple in here. But it was unfortunate not to get the win."
Bailey gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead midway through the first period, beating Jets goalie Laurent Brossoit from the top of the circles. Dillon tied it later in the first.

Image | Jets Sharks Hockey

Caption: Winnipeg Jets goaltender Laurent Brossoit, left, deflects a shot by San Jose Sharks defenceman Nikita Okhotiuk. (Godofredo A. Vásquez/The Associated Press)

Brossoit made 30 saves. Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 36 shots for his fourth win of the season.
"Overall, it was a good game," Blackwood said. "The boys played hard. They boxed out well and tried to limit second chances."
The Sharks extended their point streak to four games (3-0-1) and improved to 6-2-1 in their last nine after starting 3-15-2.
"I think we've been building towards this for a while," coach David Quinn said. "We've really had two seasons. We had the start, and then ever since then we've turned things around. I give our players and our leadership group a ton of credit. Slowly digging ourselves out of a hole."
Jets leading scorer Kyle Connor missed the game after sustaining a lower-body injury in Sunday's win against Anaheim. Connor returned to Winnipeg to be further evaluated by team doctors.

Image | Jets Sharks Hockey

Caption: San Jose Sharks right-winger Justin Bailey, right, celebrates with defenceman Jan Rutta after scoring a goal against the Winnipeg Jets during the first period in San Jose, Calif. (Godofredo A. Vásquez/The Associated Press)

"No excuses," coach Rick Bowness said. "We go with the guys we have, and they've got to find a way to get the job done."
San Jose was without defencemen Marc-Edouard Vlasic (personal reasons) and Matt Benning, who was placed on injured reserve with a lower-body injury.
Sharks centre Luke Kunin returned after missing five games with an upper-body injury.