Jets deliver lump of coal

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This article was published 21/12/2014 (3939 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A little too much naughty and not quite enough nice left the Winnipeg Jets holding a lump of coal Sunday night at the MTS Centre.

A pair of late-game defensive blunders cost the Jets a 4-3 overtime decision against the Philadelphia Flyers, a game the home team led 3-1 with four minutes to play.

NHL scoring leader Jakub Voracek scored his second goal of the game at 10 seconds of overtime to complete Philly’s comeback to take both ends of a back-to-back in Canada.

Saturday, the Flyers thumped Toronto 7-4.

Sunday, they made a winner out of first-time NHL starter Rob Zepp, a 33-year-old netminder from Ontario who had played for seven years in Germany.

Voracek picked up a loose puck that was checked off the stick of Jets defenceman Dustin Byfuglien off overtime’s opening faceoff, and brought it out front to the crease before stuffing it by goalie Ondrej Pavelec.

Late in regulation, newcomer Jay Harrison inadvertently shoved a won faceoff right to Philly’s Vinny Lecavalier right in front of Pavelec, and Lecavalier made no mistake with 3:14 left in the third.

Winnipeg’s lump of coal wasn’t worthless.

The point for the defeat makes the Jets 5-1-3 in Santa’s month and 7-1-4 in the last 12 games, finishing off this four-game homestand at 2-1-1.

This season’s home record in downtown Winnipeg is 8-6-3.

 

Taking a lead

Goals from Matt Halischuk, his first of the season, Dustin Byfuglien, his eighth, and streaking Mathieu Perreault staked the Jets to a 3-1 lead through two periods, as they held the Flyers to just 13 shots on goal through 40 minutes.

Winnipeg let off the gas against Zepp in the third, recording just two shots on goal.

One other key miss was Blake Wheeler’s goalpost on a clear-in chance just before Lecavalier tied the game.

 

Hot stuff

Perreault went to the net on a rush half-way through the second period and fired back a rebound for his sixth goal of the season.

He’s been on fire creatively since being joined with centre Mark Scheifele and right-winger Michael Frolik, now with points in seven straight games and now with nine points in nine games (4-5-9).

Scheifele assisted on the goal and has eight points (3-5-8) in the last five games.

 

What they do

The Jets continue to play their close-the-gaps, dogged style. It’s often far from pretty and it’s never perfect but it’s been yielding results, even with the team having suffered long-term injuries to their top four defencemen, Toby Enstrom, Zach Bogosian, Jacob Trouba and Mark Stuart.

Winnipeg has its assignments and routes, as head coach Paul Maurice likes to call them, down pat for most shifts and it’s rare to see opponents get many second chances or more than the very occasional odd-man rush.

Sunday’s late mistakes, however, sabotaged what wasn’t a bad outing against an explosive team.

 

Killjoys

As consolation prizes go, the Jets were strong in another area that’s generally helped them this season.

Hard to believe as it was, the Flyers owned the advantage in power plays on Sunday, 4-1, but couldn’t cash in on any of them against Winnipeg’s penalty killing.

Philly held the No. 5 ranking in the NHL coming into the game, at 23.4 per cent.

 

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca

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