Leafs get last laugh with last goal

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This article was published 21/02/2017 (3161 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO — The Winnipeg Jets used their four-game road trip through the Eastern Conference this past week to re-start their engines, but by the end of it they ran out of gas.

The Jets traded shots with the Toronto Maple Leafs all night in the final game Tuesday, ending a stretch of four games in six days with a 5-4 overtime loss at the Air Canada Centre.

“It was right there for us and we just couldn’t hang on to it in the third,” said captain Blake Wheeler as the Jets salvaged a point to sit at 28-29-6. “We were running on fumes a little bit but the guys battled hard tonight.”

The Jets held three separate leads – 2-1, 3-2, and 4-3 – with Patrik Laine scoring the first and last goal for Winnipeg to reach 30 on the year. The 18-year-old picked the perfect time to hit the milestone, doing so in what had been dubbed the rematch between him  and the Leafs’ Auston Matthews, who was chosen first overall — one pick ahead of Laine — in last June’s draft.

“It was a weird game but we got a point so we’re going to take that,” said Laine. “We’ve had a pretty crazy schedule and we’ve played a lot of games and now it’s just nice to have five days off and just relax.”

In the first meeting between Laine and Matthews – a come-from-behind 5-4 overtime victory for Winnipeg on Oct. 20 – it was Laine that got the better of Matthews.

In that game, the Jets trailed 4-0 in the second period, only for the young Finn to erupt with his first NHL hat trick, including the game-winner in extra time. Matthews recorded a single assist and was unable to convert on a breakaway in OT (Laine scored on the ensuing play).

Matthews, 19, wouldn’t disappoint the home crowd this time around, finishing the game with three assists. He helped set up the final three goals for Toronto – the second of two goals from Leo Komarov and another to William Nylander – including one on the game-winner from defenceman Jake Gardiner, who sealed the game with two minutes and 29 seconds into extra time.

The Jets will return home before leaving for the league-mandated break. They’ll do so with their heads held high, knowing what they’ve achieved over the last eight days may just be a turning point of the season – if it’s not already too late.

“We need to get away from the game and try to use it to our advantage and come back full of energy for the stretch run,” said Wheeler.

When the Jets left earlier this week they knew their playoff lives might depend on it. So they played with a chip on their shoulder, executing a defence-first and physical game. In doing so, they collected six of a possible eight points, including wins over Montreal and Ottawa and another OT loss to the defending Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins.

“Obviously it would be nice to get the points and have the win before the break but I thought we did a lot of good things in the last few games and on this road trip and hopefully we don’t lose a step when we come back,” said Bryan Little, who snapped a five-game goalless drought but also missed a perfect cross-crease pass from Wheeler that likely would have sealed the deal.

The miss by Little was just one of a number of missed opportunities for the Jets. Perhaps the biggest was late in the third period when Matthews was sent to the box for hooking. The power play extended into overtime, giving the Jets four players to the Leafs’ three for a minute and 34 seconds. “It was tough losing that one in the end but a lot of good things and it looks a lot more like we want to play,” said Little. It was a physical game from start to finish; a plan that worked for Winnipeg through the first three games but ultimately wore them down in the end. Toronto was also more than willing to push back, as the game often erupted in post-whistle scrums. Even Dustin Byfuglien dropped the gloves with Toronto’s Matt Martin.

“It was a bit of a grinder, a bit of a dog, in some ways, of a game,” said Jets coach Paul Maurice. “Lots of goals but not a whole lot of plays completed.”

Connor Hellebuyck finished with 32 saves on the night, which started rocky after Komarov scored from a bad angle in the corner just 62 seconds into the first period. Nikolaj Ehlers rounded out the scoring for the Jets with his first goal in nine games.

Already missing two regulars on the blue line in Tyler Myers and Toby Enstrom to injury, the Jets also had to deal with the absence of Jacob Trouba, who was serving the first game of a two-game suspension for an illegal check to the head of Ottawa’s Mark Stone.

“You just miss those guys; all three of those guys kill penalties for us,” said Maurice. “Clearly Jake’s absence…with Enstrom and Myers out, a lot of it fell on his shoulders and he and (Josh) Morrissey played so very well together. We missed him, there’s no doubt about that.”

The suspension was warranted but the result had the Jets feeling shafted by the league after Wheeler suffered a similar hit from Penguins star Evgeni Malkin. Malkin was assessed a minor penalty for interference but didn’t face supplementary discipline.

That angst is expected to only increase after Leafs forward Nazem Kadri delivered a hit to the head of Jets defenceman Ben Chiarot that was never called.

“At first I didn’t have a problem with it and then you see the video, you see him leave his feet, you seem him end up in their bench,” said Chiarot. “It’s not the right time or place chase him down but there will be a time down the line, might not be this year, might not be next year but there will be a time down the line when the shoe will be on the other foot.”

Maurice added: “It’s a hit I don’t like. He’s six inches in the air when he makes contact. In my mind, from the rearview, the first thing that makes contact is his helmet. I didn’t like it.”

With only 19 games remaining and still points shy of a playoff spot – with more games played than any other team at 63 – it may be too little, too late. But until they’re officially eliminated, Little said the Jets are willing to push to the end.

“We know it’s going to be an uphill road,” he said. “When we come back we’ve got to keep going, we got to get on a little bit of a role going. The games are counting down and there’s not much like left so I think we all know that it’s going to be a lot of hard work and we’re going to be ready for it.”

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

twitter: @jeffkhamilton