Jets steal opening night show in Boston’s barn

Winnipeg post strong win in opener despite stumbles in Beantown

By: Ed Tait Posted: 6:48 PM CDT Thursday, Oct. 8, 2015 Last Modified: 10:46 PM CDT Thursday, Oct. 8, 2015 | Updates

BOSTON — They forgot their lines, stumbled into each other and threw up onstage. Yes, as opening acts on opening night go, the Winnipeg Jets’ first 20 minutes would have been universally panned by the 17,565 critics at TD Garden.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/10/2015 (3649 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

But with goaltender Ondrej Pavelec keeping the night interesting with a riveting performance in the first 20 minutes, the Jets were then able to shrug off five to six months of rust and serve up a decent debut in a 6-2 win over the Boston Bruins as the curtain lifted on the 2015-16 season for both clubs.

“Pav bailed us out in the first,” said Jets winger Drew Stafford. “They came out strong in their home opener, and we were able to weather that. Good on us in here for being able to turn it around. But it all starts with Pav because we were sloppy in the first.”

Winnipeg Jets defenseman Tyler Myers (57) tries to poke the puck away from Boston Bruins left wing Brad Marchand (63) during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Boston, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2015. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Rust never sleeps

Some of the same themes for the Jets appeared early, with Adam Lowry sent off for tripping less than two minutes into the game and David Krejci capitalizing on some home-opener momentum with the first goal of the night. The Jets were outshot 14-6 in the first period, with several of the Bruins chances of the Grade A variety.

And they figure to face the same thing all over again today in New Jersey as the Devils play their home opener.

“They will (come out like Boston),” said Pavelec. “And when we go back to Winnipeg and play our first game, it’s going to be the same story — the fans are behind you, and it’s the first game of the season, and everybody is going so fast. After a few minutes, after about 10 of the first period, it settled down, and that’s when the real hockey comes. It’s going to be the same thing (Friday). Back to back… it’s never easy.

“We got the win, that’s all that matters at this point in the season. I felt really good. I just tried to stayed focused. I know how those games go… it’s the first game of the season.”

AP Photo/Charles Krupa
Winnipeg Jets defenseman Ben Chiarot (7) drops to a knee to block a shot by Boston Bruins center David Krejci, of the Czech Republic, during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Boston. — AP Photo/Charles Krupa Winnipeg Jets defenseman Ben Chiarot (7) drops to a knee to block a shot by Boston Bruins center David Krejci, of the Czech Republic, during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Boston.

A night of firsts

The Jets got goals from six different players in the win — Mark Scheifele, Blake Wheeler, Stafford, Chris Thorburn, Nic Petan and Alex Burmistrov — all without having a single power play. Petan’s effort came in his first NHL game and with his brother and parents in the audience. It wasn’t a classic, with an Andrew Copp shot glancing off his skate in behind Tuukka Rask, but he’s hardly going to ask for a do-over.

“(Copp) just threw it in there,” said Petan. “I just tried to plant my feet and hoped it went off my skate, and it did. “Throughout the day, I had a little bit of nerves, but as I came to the rink, I calmed down. We talked about treating it like another game. Obviously it wasn’t, but it’s great that we got the win.

“The goal was a big part. Everyone was saying ‘congratulations’ on the bench, and it’s something I’ll remember for a long time.”

“He’ll remember that one, coast to coast, by the time he has his own kids,” said Maurice with a grin. “I liked both of their games (Nikolaj Ehlers and Petan). They certainly didn’t lack confidence when they had the puck… they tried some things, and I’m going to have to try to squeeze some of that out of them, but leave a lot of it. That’s what they do. They make good plays, they’re good with the puck, and we want them to explore that creativity and learn the right time to do it. I was happy with all the young players’ games tonight.”

A streak dies

The Jets/Thrashers franchise hadn’t won in Boston dating back to March 31, 2007 — a streak of 13 games. But that’s kaput now.

“That’s a while,” said Maurice with a grin. “Thankfully we’re not responsible for the earlier ones. I haven’t felt with this team — we’ve had so much change over in the last two or three years, so many of these guys are new — that any of the old buildings that we’re not good in, and we were really bad in back to backs early on… we’ve exorcised a lot of demons.”

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPEdTait

AP Photo/Charles Krupa
Winnipeg Jets right wing Chris Thorburn (22) looks back as he scores against Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask, of Finland, during the third period. — AP Photo/Charles Krupa Winnipeg Jets right wing Chris Thorburn (22) looks back as he scores against Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask, of Finland, during the third period.

Six goals, six players, 12 points

BOSTON — It is the kind of score sheet every player wants to get their mitts on afterwards.

Six different players scored for the Winnipeg Jets in Thursday’s 6-2 win over the Boston Bruins, with 12 different names picking up points.

And that’s the kind of offensive balance that can make a coach beam, too.

“It’s really important,” said Chris Thorburn, who potted the Jets’ fourth goal of the night.

“The main thing is playing the right way, and all four lines did that, especially after the first period. We just got pucks to the net, they were Winnipeg Jet goals, not pretty goals, beside the first two. It was a matter of playing the right way, and getting rewarded was just a plus.”

Paul Maurice has arguably the deepest Jet forward crew to work with, although some of it is unproven with rookies Andrew Copp, Nic Ehlers and Andrew Copp replacing the likes of Jim Slater, Jiri Tlusty and Lee Stempniak.

“Up front we’ve got some pretty good depth and good balance on the lines with the way Paul seems to be implementing the matchups,” said Drew Stafford.

“I think we’re going to have that kind of balance this year. We didn’t have any power plays, but that was a good test for us being able to bounce back after the first.”

The Jets’ fourth line all hovered around the 10-minute mark in ice time — Thorburn at 10:08, Andrew Copp at 9:21 and Nic Petan at 10 even — and chipped in with a couple of goals.

Told he’s on pace to score 82, Thorburn quipped: “I don’t think I can live up to the hype.”

“To take some minutes off of the top lines is important, especially later in the season,” he added.

“We know that it starts with defence. Once coach trusts us defensively, he’ll put us out there more, which will lead to more offence.

“That’s our mindset now. We were fortunate to get two there, but that doesn’t mean we’re all offence now. We go back to Square 1, play well defensively and gain the coach’s trust and go from there.”

The only Jet trio that looked familiar was the Andrew Ladd, Bryan Little, Blake Wheeler combo. The other trios — Mathieu Perreault with Mark Scheifele and Nikolaj Ehlers, Alex Burmistrov with Adam Lowry and Stafford and the Copp line — have all had very little time together during the pre-season.

“We were kind of feeling out line combinations a little bit, it was new combinations for everyone except for our line,” said Wheeler.

“You’re going to need sustained scoring all year, you can’t rely on one line. We’ve played that game before and it doesn’t get us very far. (Balance) is what you need to be a good team.”

BURMI’S NYET-NYET: There was a feeling in the press box the Jets might have to summon help from the Manitoba Moose earlier than planned after Alex Burmistrov caught Patrice Bergeron with a head shot in the first period.

The young Russian didn’t look to catch Bergeron with his elbow, but he did make big contact with his opponent’s jaw, and that likely means a phone call from the NHL’s department of player safety.

Maurice, however, countered with his own thoughts after the game:

“So much of that is Burmistrov’s body movement,” he said. “It’s as it would be if two guys were coming together. It happens a thousand times a game, two guys come together. When one of them doesn’t, that’s what it looks like. He wasn’t driving up (with his elbow), driving through. I’m a big Bergeron fan. He didn’t leave the game, which is a real positive. I’m glad it was nothing serious.”

Burmistrov was assessed a minor penalty for an illegal check to the head on the play.

Bruins head coach Claude Julien wasn’t impressed.

“Yeah, it’ll be interesting how that is being reviewed, especially to an elite player in the league whose had some issues in the past,” said Julien. “I hope they look at it seriously. In my mind, I don’t see why there wouldn’t be further consequences to that.