Jets beat Blackhawks 6-3 in Jonathan Toews' first game vs. his former team

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WINNIPEG, Manitoba - Gabriel Villardi had two goals and an assist, and linemates Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor each had a goal and a two assists as the Winnipeg Jets beat the Chicago Blackhawks 6-3 on Thursday night.

But, there was more to the game than just the score in Winnipeg.

The backstory:

There was some emotion on Winnipeg's bench as Jonathan Toews prepared for Thursday's game.

Toews, who spent 16 years with the Blackhawks and is now a center for the Jets, was facing his former team for the first time in his career.

Before the game, he spoke fondly of his adoptive home where he won three Stanley Cups and carved out an NHL dynasty in Chicago.

"I've always said I'm very thankful for how things went in Chicago," Toews said, according to NHL.com. "It was definitely a dream. I had some tougher years towards the end of my time there that help you put things in perspective and make you realize that the success we had is what everyone in the league is going after and it's a really, really hard thing to do."

Toews had an assist in his first game against his old team, which chose him third overall in the 2006 NHL draft. Toews, 37, missed the past two seasons with health issues and signed a one-year deal with his hometown Jets. He has two goals and four assists.

"Overall, I think there's still a connection to the organization and the city of Chicago and I think there always will be," Toews said, according to NHL.com. "I think Chicago was my home for a long time and it's days like this that you get to stop for a second, reflect, look back."

What we know:

Vladislav Namestnikov and Josh Morrissey also scored for Winnipeg and Dylan DeMelo had two assists. Connor Hellebuyck stopped 21 shots.

Teuvo Teravainen, Alex Vlasic and Andre Burakovsky scored for Chicago, and Spencer Knight finished with 26 saves in the opener of a six-game trip.

The Jets scored quick goals in each of the first two periods.

After Chicago took a penalty at 1:21 of the first period, Namestnikov scored 21 seconds later on a quick feed from behind the net by Gustav Nyquist.

An unlucky bounce led to the Blackhawks evening it up at 8:57. Hellebuyck went to play a puck when it was dumped in the corner, but it hit a seam in the boards and bounced straight to Teravainen as he was skating to the front of the net.

Vilardi and Scheifele teamed up on a 2-on-1 to go ahead 2-1 with 3:04 remaining in the opening period.

A Chicago turnover early in the second gave Connor the puck and he passed it to Scheifele, who fired a wrist shot from the right faceoff circle past Knight at 1:54.

Vilardi scored his second of the night and fourth of the season with 8:41 remaining in the middle period after DeMelo sent him a puck from the corner.

After Morrissey recorded his first goal of the season at 10:12 of the third, Vlasic scored his first less than two minutes later. Burakovsky and Connor finished off the scoring.