TORONTO (AP) The Winnipeg Jets had to wait nearly the entire season

TORONTO (AP) The Winnipeg Jets had to wait nearly the entire season to make up for an embarrassing home loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the opener.Josh Morrissey and Dustin Byfuglien scored 1:10 apart in the second period as the Jets beat the Maple Leafs 3-1 on Saturday night.Winnipeg lost 7-2 to Toronto to open the season on Oct 4 http://www.redwingsshoponline.com/authentic-jimmy-howard-jersey , and was also coming off a disappointing 6-2 loss in Chicago two nights earlier that ended a six-game winning streak.”We kind of owed them one,” Morrissey said. ”We didn’t like the way the last meeting went at the start of the year … and with the way we played in Chicago the other night we really wanted to rebound.”We had a lot of motivating factors.”Andrew Copp had the other goal for the Jets, while Connor Hellebuyck stopped 28 shots in a matchup of the only two Canadian teams headed to the playoffs.Winnipeg was eager to get back to playing a physical, defensively sound game after the loss to the Blackhawks.”We were on the puck much better,” Jets captain Blake Wheeler said. ”That’s a (Toronto) group that wants time, wants space, wants to be creative.”Patrick Marleau scored for Toronto, and Curtis McElhinney had 26 saves. The Maple Leafs were playing for the third time in in four nights, including the second of a back-to-back following Friday’s 5-4 victory at the New York Islanders.”I’m disappointed,” Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. ”When you don’t have quite as much juice, you’re not quite as good. … It was tight. In the end, they were better.”The Maple Leafs are all but assured of finishing third in the Atlantic Division. The Jets, meanwhile, look just as certain to wind up second in the Central.Both teams are hoping to use these final few outings as playoff tuneups.”It just shows you’ve got to be sharp each and every night Jonathan Ericsson Jersey , and sometimes the details of the game is the difference – most of the time it’s the difference,” Marleau said. ”Tonight was no different.”Toronto’s only blemish at home in more than two months coming into this game was Monday’s 3-2 loss to last-place Buffalo that snapped a 13-game winning streak at Air Canada Centre.Scoreless after a first period lacking much in the way of emotion, Toronto grabbed a 1-0 lead just 2:02 into the second when the league’s third-ranked power play went to work. Auston Matthews looked primed to shoot on Hellebuyck from the left faceoff circle, but passed to Marleau, who redirected his 26th of the season home from the top of the crease.After a pad stop on Blake Wheeler’s deflection later in the period, McElhinney could do nothing at 8:30 when Morrissey’s blast from the point past a screen caught him moving the wrong way for the defenseman’s sixth.McElhinney was then run into by Winnipeg’s Mark Scheifele after he stopped Wheeler’s breakaway seconds later, but no penalty was called on the play.Playing without rookie defenseman Travis Dermott because of a lower-body injury suffered in the first, the Leafs went to the penalty kill when play resumed after Jake Gardiner cross-checked Scheifele hard into the boards, much to the chagrin of home crowd.The Jets’ power play – which was fourth overall coming in – went to work, and Byfuglien snapped his seventh off the post and in past a screened McElhinney at 9:40.Winnipeg pulled ahead 3-1 seemingly out of nothing on a broken play with 2:26 left in the period when Copp fired his sixth shortside off a pass from Adam Lowry.”It’s tough when you give up a power-play goal,” Morrissey said. ”That’s some of the growth in our team – we got right back on our horse and really went after it.”That’s something we’re going to have to do definitely going forward here and into the playoffs.”Playing the second of a back-to-back, McElhinney saw his first action in place of Frederik Andersen since making 33 saves in a 4-0 win over Montreal on March 17.Toronto went back to the man advantage midway through the final period after Winnipeg was whistled for too many men, but neither unit could connect despite extended zone time.The Leafs pressed further with McElhinney out for an extra attacker, but couldn’t find a way past Hellebuyck before Ron Hainsey took a holding penalty on Copp with 67 seconds left in regulation to kill any hope of a comeback.Hellebuyck had to be sharp to snag Nazem Kadri’s deflection of a shot by Marleau midway through the first before also blocking Connor Brown’s batted effort and rebound chance from in close with under two minutes left.Brown had another opportunity with Hellebuyck swimming in his crease moments later Womens Justin Abdelkader Jersey , but couldn’t quite find the handle on a loose puck.NOTES: Toronto came in 8-2 over its last 10. … Leafs forward Mitch Marner saw his 11-game point streak (five goals, 11 assists) come to an end. … Leo Komarov replaced Andreas Johnsson on Toronto’s fourth line after missing seven games with a lower-body injury. … Winnipeg D Jacob Trouba (concussion) returned to the lineup following a five-game absence.UP NEXTJets: At Ottawa on Monday night.Maple Leafs: Host Buffalo on Monday night. NEW YORK (AP) The Washington Capitals – particularly T.J. Oshie – were grateful to get a high-scoring win.Oshie scored twice, Dmitry Orlov and Nicklas Backstrom each had a goal and two assists, and the first-place Capitals beat the reeling New York Islanders 7-3 Thursday night.”I’ve been working hard lately, trying to get my game going,” said Oshie, who hadn’t scored since Jan 31, a span of 19 games. ”It felt nice. But more importantly it was good to get a team win with scoring up and down the lineup.”It was the first time this season the Capitals had scored seven times and their three-game winning streak is their first since early January. They remained tied with Pittsburgh atop the Metropolitan Division, but currently hold the tiebreaker with two games in hand.Andrei Burakovsky added a goal and an assist, and Lars Eller and John Carlson also scored to help Washington improve to 10-4-3 in its last 17 games against the Islanders. Evgeny Kuznetsov had three assists and Philipp Grubauer finished with 35 saves for his 11th win of the season.”We capitalized on some opportunities and Gruby was really strong tonight,” Capitals coach Barry Trotz said. ”And we had little bit of luck.”Brock Nelson, Andrew Ladd and Ryan Pulock scored for the Islanders, who lost for the ninth time in 10 games.Christopher Gibson started and gave up five goals on 12 shots before he was pulled midway through the second period. Jaroslav Halak came on and finished with eight saves.Despite the lopsided result, Islanders coach Doug Weight was somehow satisfied with his team’s effort.”We played pretty well. We had some good chances Luke Glendening Jersey ,” he said. ”The guys kept working and shooting.”Orlov gave the Capitals a 3-2 lead with 2:43 left in the first as he beat Gibson for his ninth of the season.Burakovsky extended Washington’s lead at 3:12 of the second, and Backstrom made it 5-2 with his 18th with 9:38 remaining in the middle period, ending Gibson’s night.Carlson got his 13th with 4:19 left in the third to give the Capitals a four-goal lead.Pulock got the Islanders to 6-3 just 52 seconds later, but Oshie scored an empty-netter for his second of the night and 14th of the season with just under two minutes to go.The Islanders were coming off a 5-2 win at Calgary on Sunday night that snapped their eight-game skid (0-4-4) with Gibson making 50 saves. However, their defensive struggles returned against the Capitals.The Islanders have allowed a league-high 252 goals and are 15-23-8 since finishing November at 15-7-2. They will almost certainly miss the playoffs for the second straight year and the third time in five years.New York has won only one playoff series – in 2016 – in the nine-year career of their captain John Tavares, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent in July.Weight replaced Jack Capuano behind the bench midway through last season and the Islanders surged to finish with 94 points, narrowly missing the postseason.But their play has been haphazard this season and amid their most recent swoon – especially at home – their season is on the ropes. They are 4-10-1 at Barclays Center starting with a Jan. 2 loss against Boston.Nelson opened the scoring at 2:19 of the first as he took a pass from rookie Tanner Fritz while skating down the slot before beating Grubauer for his 16th.Eller tied it at 10:19 with his 16th before Oshie scored at 11:29 to put the Capitals ahead 2-1.Ladd tied the score 2-2 at 12:29 when he scored his 10th. Rookie Mathew Barzal got his team-leading 52nd assist on the play.NOTES: Washington is 26-12-5 against Eastern Conference opponents this season. … The Islanders on Thursday signed forward Scott Eansor to a two-year, two-way contract. The 21-year-old Eansor has 16 goals for AHL Bridgeport this season. He was a teammate of Barzal with the junior Seattle Thunderbirds previously. … The Islanders scratched D Dennis Seidenberg, D Sebastian Aho and F Chris Wagner. … Washington scratched D Christian Djoos, F Alex Chiasson and F Travis Boyd.UP NEXTCapitals: Host the Islanders on Friday.Islanders: At Washington on Friday.