Winnipeg Jets hold off Ottawa Senators

OTTAWA -- After such a good start, the Winnipeg Jets had to wait until after the final buzzer sounded for confirmation of their second win this weekend.

Finally, video review on a scramble around goalie Connor Hellebuyck's net proved inconclusive and the Jets left Canadian Tire Centre with a 3-2 win over the Ottawa Senators on Sunday.

"That was guaranteed out," Hellebuyck, who made 32 saves, said of the last-ditch attempt by Senators center Jean-Gabriel Pageau. "My pad was there and then he pushed my pad in and I got my glove right behind it. I'm kind of confused why the crowd was getting into it."

Pageau knew why. He thought it was a good goal, too.

"My full blade was in the net and the puck was in front of my blade," he said. "My blade was in the net, his glove was in the net, his pad was in the net. So there was a lot of stuff to cover the puck. There was no call on the ice."

The lost point or two, the Senators can live with. They had bigger concerns after this one.

Already without winger Bobby Ryan, who suffered a suspected broken finger in Saturday's win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Senators saw more important players drop.

Winger Mike Hoffman, a 19-goal scorer, left with a lower-body injury in the first period.

Winger Mark Stone, who leads the Senators with 22 goals, left the game after taking an illegal head shot from Jacob Trouba.

And winger Tommy Wingels left later in the game with an undisclosed injury after being hit by Dustin Byfuglien.

The Senators started the game with 11 forwards and ended with eight.

"It doesn't look good," Senators coach Guy Boucher said. "We have to wait until tomorrow to be clear and precise about all these guys, but right now we could be losing quite a few.

"Right now, it looks like a disaster. We'll see tomorrow. Maybe the disaster is not as bad as we think. Right now, I'd rather be ready for anything."

Trouba, who received just a two-minute penalty, is sure to hear from the league. A stiffer penalty is sure to follow.

"It's a clear hit to the head with the shoulder," Boucher said. "It's (against) one of the best players in the league, so I mean I think everybody saw the same thing."

The Jets (28-29-5) were led by first-period goals from Byfuglien and Mathieu Perrault. Defenseman Josh Morrissey scored what turned out to be the winner with an innocent looking point shot after an Ottawa turnover.

"I think it got deflected a little bit on the way in there," Morrissey said of his third goal this season.

"Just trying to get a quick shot through and that's kind of a theme for us on the back end, is trying to get pucks to the net and get it off your stick in a hurry before they can get into the lanes. Get it through and good things happen."

Stone and Zack Smith replied for the Senators (31-20-6). Mike Condon made 17 saves for Ottawa.

"I thought overall we showed a lot of emotions, we battled hard for what we had out there," said Erik Karlsson, who assisted on both Senators goals. "We didn't play a horrible game. They had a little bit stronger of a first period than we did."

The Jets have now won three of their last four in a push for a playoff spot.

"We've got to string as many together as we can," Jets winger Blake Wheeler said. "It's not really about how, it's just about how many you can put together. We've found our game here going into the break and we've got a huge one coming up in Toronto.

"We're coming together pretty good here. I think we have four lines playing the same way. It seems to be different guys contributing every night and that's what you need to win games."

While the Jets complete their four-game road trip Tuesday in Toronto, the Senators don't play at home again until March 2.

Ottawa begins a four-game road trip in New Jersey on Tuesday.

NOTES:

-- Senators RW Bobby Ryan missed the Sunday game after sustaining a suspected broken right index finger in the third period of a win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday. Coach Guy Boucher said Ryan could miss three to six weeks.

-- Senators RW Chris Neil was scratched for the seventh time in the past 11 games as Boucher decided again to go with seven defensemen and 11 forwards.

-- Jets RW Drew Stafford (flu) took part in the warmup but was scratched for the second consecutive game.

-- Jets D Julian Melchiori was scratched for the fourth game in a row since being recalled from the AHL's Manitoba Moose.