Creaky Jets eke out victory

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This article was published 15/12/2016 (3262 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Jets did not look like a well-oiled machine Thursday night.

Somehow, it didn’t seem to matter as the Jets rallied from a late 3-2 deficit to beat the Florida Panthers 4-3 in a wild shootout finish at the MTS Centre.

Mathieu Perreault’s sixth-round goal (he snapped a shot under Florida goaltender Roberto Luongo’s blocker) proved to be decisive for the winners, who came into the game with four consecutive losses.

“Everybody kind of throws their own move out there,” said Perreault. “I just had that move picked out in my head, and I knew I was going to do that. I just stuck to it and the hole opened up, and I was able to put it in.” 

Winnipeg got goals from Dustin Byfuglien, Adam Lowry and a third-period marker from Bryan Little to force overtime. The Jets finished well but struggled mightily against the speedy Panthers in the opening 40 minutes.

“After not playing for a few days, we were expecting it to be a bit ugly, sloppy,” said Jets captain Blake Wheeler. “It definitely was through two periods. We found a way to gut it out to overtime, and luckily we got the two points.”

The Panthers, owners of the NHL’s worst power play at 12.6 per cent and having scored only 13 goals with the man advantage entering Thursday’s action, resembled the mid-’80s Edmonton Oilers on this night.

With Winnipeg defenceman Toby Enstrom serving consecutive minor penalties for interference, holding and interference again in the second period, Florida rattled off power-play markers by Aleksander Barkov, Reilly Smith and Vincent Trocheck to take a 3-2 lead into the third period. 

“I mean, the referee is there to make sure the game gets played the right way,” said Enstrom, who was the target of some scattered boos in the middle frame. “I’ve gotta do it better, that’s just how it is.

“I’m just happy we fought back and got a win here.”

The margin after two periods really flattered the Jets, who had been most outplayed and outshot 36-19 to that point.

The Florida power play finished the game 3-for-3 while the Jets went 0-for-2.

“At this point, confidence is pretty low,” said Wheeler of his club’s clunky power play. “So it’s something you’ve gotta work for. Power play is supposed to be your best players on the ice, on the penalty kill you’re trying to shut down their top guys. It’s not really rocket science. We’ve gotta find a way to build that confidence and get into a rhythm. It doesn’t really seem like there’s much of a plan right now.”

Sophomore forward Nikolaj Ehlers was Winnipeg’s best skater but had little to show for his efforts except for a team-leading six shots on goal. Ehlers was stoned by Luongo on a spectacular wraparound effort in the third and almost won the game with another Grade A scoring chance with less than four minutes remaining in the third period — but Luongo stood tall again. 

“You feel for him, but at the same time, it’s a game he should build a lot of confidence from,” said Wheeler of Ehlers. “He was controlling the play when he was out there, had the puck on a string. You’re gonna have nights like that where you’re all over it and it doesn’t go into the net. Hopefully, he can watch that tape and take a lot of positive things from it, and they’ll start going in in bunches, it’s just the way it works.”

Jets head coach Paul Maurice is a big fan of the 20-year-old Dane.

“Dynamic, and he really has been,” said Maurice. “It’s been coming in his game. I think in other games he’s had some breakaways that haven’t gone his way and it’s affected his play at times, and tonight I don’t think he felt that at all. He just has to keep that faith and keep that quickness in his game and the puck is going to go for him.”

Luongo finished the game with 29 saves while his Winnipeg counterpart, Connor Hellebuyck, stopped 41 shots and did well to keep his team within striking range.

“Great great work by him tonight,” said Wheeler.

Noteworthy

Luongo’s 446 career victories are one win behind Hall of Famer Terry Sawchuk for fifth on the all-time list for goaltending wins. Luongo has accumulated his total in 949 games split between the Panthers and Vancouver Canucks. Sawchuk, meanwhile, finished his career with 972 games while suiting up for the New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins and Los Angeles Kings… Byfuglien finished the night with a goal and an assist and a team-high 29:09 of ice time… Reilly Smith had a goal and an assist for the visitors, who dropped to 13-13-5. Winnipeg improved to 14-16-3.

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14