Dominant 5-1 win over Canucks softens Jets losing Wheeler, Schmidt to injuries

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This article was published 18/12/2022 (1036 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

VANCOUVER — It’s been said winning cures everything. And while a dominant 5-1 triumph over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night won’t magically heal a half-dozen injured Winnipeg Jets players, it certainly helps soften the blow.

The hits keep coming, with Blake Wheeler and Nate Schmidt just the latest to go down with long-term ailments, joining Nikolaj Ehlers, Mason Appleton, Saku Maenalanen and Logan Stanley in the infirmary. Fortunately, the victories do as well, with this one at Rogers Arena being one of their most impressive all things considered.

“That’s Winnipeg Jet hockey. That’s what we’ve been talking about all year. Next man up. Everybody do their job,” said Jets forward Kyle Connor, who had a goal and an assist. “(That’s a) great response from everybody. We needed help from everybody tonight, top to bottom. Like you saw on the score sheet, everybody contributed.”

Winnipeg improves to 20-9-1, just one point back of Dallas (with two games in hand) for first place in the Central Division. Vancouver falls to 13-14-3.

As Connor astutely noted, this one followed a similar script as so many under coach Rick Bowness, albeit with the most depleted lineup they’ve had at their disposal all year.

You had rock-solid goaltending from Connor Hellebuyck, who made 22 of 23 shots and came close to his league-leading fourth shutout of the year. The only puck to beat him was a perfectly tipped one by Vancouver’s top scorer, Bo Horvat, with just over five minutes left in the game.

“I thought we brought our pace and every single guy brought their A-game. They were battling so hard and we were controlling the game,” said Hellebuyck.

“It’s always hard going through injuries but this is what you want out of your team. You want everyone to be playing the same exact way. The details are right and then when you hit a little adversity you just rely on your systems and your grit and I think that’s what we did tonight.”

You had strong special teams, including a power play goal from Kyle Connor to get the Jets on the board not even three minutes into the game, and two big penalty kills in the first period. Case in point: Through 15 minutes of play, Vancouver had enjoyed four minutes of five-on-four play. Winnipeg was up 1-0 on the scoreboard, and 10-1 on the shot clock.

“We did a lot of intelligent things with the puck. We didn’t really hurt ourselves,” said Bowness. “We’re not going to find any excuses. We’re going to find solutions. When you say that you’ve got to have different guys stepping up and making major contributions.”

To that extent the Jets got goals from depth forwards Sam Gagner and Axel Jonsson-Fjallby (who had been a healthy scratch for the last two games), plus offence from the defence with Kyle Capobianco (taking the place of Schmidt in the lineup and playing for just the fourth time in 30 games) and Neal Pionk getting in on the act.

“I love to see it,” Hellebuyck said of teammates like Jonsson-Fjallby and Capobianco getting rewarded. “I love to see the guys succeed especially with how hard they’ve been playing and how hard they’ve been working for me. I’m so excited for them.”

Add it all up and considering the roster the Jets were fielding, with $24 million worth of players salaries currently on injured reserve, they didn’t miss a beat. By the third period, Winnipeg was essentially playing keepaway with the puck, as Vancouver appeared to have completely checked out. You have to think coach Bruce Boudreau’s already hot seat is now nuclear after this stinker.

A disgusted fan tossed a Canucks jersey on the ice late in the game, during play.

To be fair, Vancouver is without some key pieces as well, with both Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser missing Saturday’s game due to illness, and top goaltender Thatcher Demko injured. But that doesn’t take anything away from how strong the weakened Jets lineup played.

“That’s been a focal point for us from training camp. To give up less, play quicker, get the puck out of our zone and really start to stretch it out as wingers,” Connor said of following the new systems to perfection.

“We’re taking that battle up high rather than in the corner and allowing their D’s to pinch. I thought we had a lot of great support, it made our job that much easier in the D zone and when you spend more time in their zone, it’s less time we have to defend, which makes it easier for us.”

Bowness made a trio of changes from the group that downed Nashville 2-1 in overtime on Thursday, snapping a two-game losing streak. Capobianco, as mentioned, drew in for Schmidt, who will be out 4-6 weeks with an upper-body injury. And Karson Kuhlman, picked up on waivers last week from Seattle, was thrown right into the fire, taking Wheeler’s spot on the top line with Mark Scheifele and Cole Perfetti.

He nearly scored on his first shift, with Perfetti finding him for what would have been an empty-net tap-in. There was just one problem: The puck hopped over his stick.

Jonsson-Fjallby also drew back in, taking the place of Michael Eyssimont on a fourth-line with David Gustafsson and Kevin Stenlund.

“You know you’re going to need it in this league. There are so many teams that go through it. We’re in the thick of it, tough schedule, injuries and we’re not making any excuses, guys are coming up, they’re motivated, they want to make a difference and they can,” Connor said of the next-man-up mentality.

“You see it every night. So, it’s huge. You’re going to need it down the stretch and into the playoffs here. So it’s great that we’re getting contributions.”

Pierre-Luc Dubois had three assists on the night. Gagner also had a helper to go with his goal, while Perfetti, Brenden Dillon, Dylan Samberg and Josh Morrissey also had assists. Morrissey made some history with his, becoming the first defenceman in franchise history to have an assist in eight straight games.

This was the first of three head-to-head games between the Jets and Canucks, who won all three contests last year. The next two will be played in Winnipeg.

Winnipeg has now won five straight games in enemy territory, with a 9-4-1 record away from Canada Life Centre so far this season. They’ll try to keep the good times going, on very little sleep, when they face the Seattle Kraken on Sunday at Climate Pledge Arena.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg