Byfuglien scores 500th NHL point in Jets victory against Red Wings

Dustin Byfuglien broke a tie with 6:45 remaining in the third period for his 500th NHL point to help the Winnipeg Jets to a 2-1 win against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Friday.

The 33-year-old defenseman became the 14th player in NHL history drafted in the eighth round or later to score 500 points. He has 391 points in 576 games for the Jets/Atlanta Thrashers, and 109 points in 260 games for the Chicago Blackhawks.
"He's such an important piece to our team," Jets coach Paul Maurice said. "Early on in the game he made some great reads. That seam pass he picked off in the third period, he has that ability to read the play like very few other people. He does it defensively as well. He's just hard to stop."
WATCH: [All Jets vs. Red Wings highlights]
Byfuglien leads all active NHL defenseman with 36 game-winning goals.
Kyle Connor also scored for the Jets (7-3-1). Laurent Brossoit made 27 saves. The backup is 3-0-0 in three starts this season.
"We had a lot of good looks," Connor said. "On the first couple we had good entries, we were on the puck and we had good entries too. It was a matter of time."

Andreas Athanasiou scored for Detroit (1-7-2), which remains without a win in regulation this season. Jimmy Howard made 38 saves.
Athanasiou made it 1-0 on the power play at 15:27 of the first period, scoring on a one-timer.
"I thought we skated with one of the best teams in the NHL," Red Wings forward Dylan Larkin said. "We competed. I thought our tempo matched theirs in the first period, if not better."
Connor tied it 1-1 on the power play with his fifth at 16:14 of the second period. Blake Wheeler's initial shot was saved but he was able to get the rebound and make a centering pass from behind the net.

"You give a team that many opportunities on the power play they're going to find a way to put the puck in the back of the net," Howard said.
Winnipeg has a power-play goal in seven straight games, going 8-for-23 (34.8 percent).

They said it

"We expected [the Red Wings] to come out hard considering the game they had in their last game [a 3-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday]. I thought we weathered the storm pretty well. In the second period they got into some penalty trouble and we took over for the rest of the game." -- Jets goalie Laurent Brossoit
"At times he keeps us in the games. He gave us a chance. That's all we can ask for. We're giving up too many chances, too many chances to score. Jimmy came up over and over again with some big saves. Gave us a chance."-- Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall

Need to know

Wheeler has six points (one goal, five assists) in a five-game point streak. … Jets forward Mark Scheifele has seven points (three goals, four assists) in a four-game point streak. … Connor has five points (one goal, four assists) in a four-game point streak. … Athanasiou has five points (four goals, one assist) in his past five games. … Red Wings defenseman Mike Green made his season debut. He played 20:27 after missing Detroit's first nine games because of a virus. … Forward Jacob De La Rose played 9:36 in his Red Wings debut after being claimed off waivers from the Montreal Canadiens on Oct. 17.

What's next

Jets: At the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; CBC, SN360, NHL.TV)
Red Wings: Host the Dallas Stars on Sunday (5 p.m. ET; FS-D, FS-SW+, NHL.TV)