For the sixth time in the last seven seasons, the Winnipeg Jets have earned a place in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Gabriel Vilardi got three goals and the Jets (46-24-6) defeated the Calgary Flames 5-2 at Canada Life Centre Thursday night to finish their five-game homestand with a two-game winning streak.
Winnipeg is the fourth team in the Western Conference to guarantee a playoff spot.
After falling behind 1-0 early due to a MacKenzie Weegar goal, the Jets recovered with two goals later in the period, one from Vilardi on the power play and another from Nikolaj Ehlers, his 23rd of the season.
The Flames equalized in the second period with a Daniil Miromanov goal, but the Jets scored again with the man advantage before the intermission as Tyler Toffoli scored his 31st of the season.
Vilardi added two more in the third period for his hat-trick, bringing his total to 20 goals for the season
Ehlers contributed an assist in addition to his goal, while Josh Morrissey provided two assists for Winnipeg. Connor Hellebuyck made 31 saves for the win in goal.
The Jets are still in third place in the Central Division, four points behind the Colorado Avalanche, who also won on Thursday, and are still six points ahead of Nashville.
Winnipeg now heads out on the road for four consecutive games, starting Saturday afternoon in Minnesota against the Wild. The pregame show starts at 1 p.m. on 680 CJOB with the game beginning just after 3 p.m.
