Mid-game burst from Penguins topples Jets at home

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This article was published 08/03/2017 (3168 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The fire between the Winnipeg Jets and Pittsburgh Penguins had already started to build weeks before. So in the hours leading up to Wednesday’s highly anticipated rematch, neither team felt the need to add fuel to the flames.

Actions, as the popular saying goes, would have to speak louder than words.

When the smoke finally settled on the night, it was the Jets who were left feeling burned again, falling to the Pittsburgh Penguins 7-4 at the MTS Centre.

“I liked the way we came out, good jump,” said Jets coach Paul Maurice, before moving on to what he didn’t like about his team’s efforts. “Losing Toby [Enstrom] hurt. Four (games) in six (days) and having to run the back end the way we did, we ended up in penalty trouble.”

Although both teams had said all the right things before the game – preferring to focus on the two points up for grabs — the angst for one another was clear.

The Jets had suffered their most disappointing loss this season in Pittsburgh Feb. 16, crawling back from down 2-0 only to lose, 4-3, with 22 seconds left in overtime. Worse still, Jets captain Blake Wheeler was on the receiving end of a high hit to the head from Evgeni Malkin that was deemed worthy of only a minor penalty.

The Penguins, though victorious the first time around, suffered perhaps the biggest loss in the game. Defencemen Justin Schultz and Olli Maatta were forced to leave early, injured by crushing checks from Dustin Byfuglien and Adam Lowry.

With that all acting as a backdrop for Wednesday, both teams expected a fast-paced and physical start to the game. Neither, however, would have predicted what actually transpired.

Two fights (including a pair of superstars; the other between heavyweights), six goals (with one called back after a coach’s challenge) and 43 penalty minutes were how the opening 20 minutes played out.

It took just three minutes and 33 seconds for Wheeler to seek revenge on Malkin, who agreed to drop the gloves after Wheeler tracked him down.

“A lot of respect for him answering the bell,” Wheeler said after the game, though he didn’t seem to take much pleasure in his win. “He didn’t have to do that so it was good to get that out of the way right away and focus on the rest of the game.”

Things would only get rougher from there as two seconds after the ensuing faceoff, Jets resident tough guy Chris Thorburn exchanged fists with tough customer Tom Sestito in a tussle that lasted more than a minute and had the fans on their feet.

Sestito, a 6-5, 228-pound bruiser who has spent much of the year in the American Hockey League, was called up earlier in the day to add toughness to an otherwise skilled Pittsburgh lineup. His return to the Penguins wouldn’t last long, however, as he was ejected from a 2-2 game following a vicious hit from behind on Enstrom.

The Jets were forced to play a man down on defence for the rest of the game as Enstrom was sent to the hospital with possible facial fractures. In one minute and two seconds of ice time, Sestito finished the game with 20 penalty minutes.

“Well, he wasn’t called up to dangle,” said Maurice, annoyed by the whole situation.

Through all the chaos, the Jets still led 3-2 through 20 minutes, with goals from Shawn Matthias, Nikolaj Ehlers and Dustin Byfguglien. Pittsburgh countered with Nick Bonino, who scored the first of three goals on the night, and Malkin, who finished the game with a “Gordie Howe hat trick” and then some, scoring two goals and adding an assist to go with his tilt, to keep the game close heading into the second period.

From there, special teams would be the difference.

With two guys in the box for the Jets midway through the second period, the Penguins scored twice on the power play. Schultz made it a 3-3 game on the 5-on-3 advantage, while Bonino put the Pens up a goal just seconds later on the 5-on-4.

Malkin added his second goal shortly after, giving the Penguins three goals in 57 seconds and a commanding 5-3 lead.

That would spell the end for Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck, who was replaced by Michael Hutchinson after allowing five goals on 15 shots.

Hutchinson wouldn’t have an answer for Bonino, who completed the hat trick minutes later on yet another power-play goal, putting the visitors up 6-3 after two periods.

Pittsburgh finished the game three-for-five on the power play, while the Jets were unable to convert on five trips to the man advantage.

Jake Guentzel scored in the third period to round out the scoring for the Penguins and Marko Dano added one for the Jets.

With the loss, the Jets fall to 30-32-6 on the year and remain five points shy of the St. Louis Blues, who have three games in hand, for the final wild card spot in the West. With just 14 games remaining on the schedule, the Jets know they have a tough road ahead.

“Just come back to the rink, ready for the next one,” said Bryan Little. I mean, that’s all you can do. I think there’s been a lot of looking at the standings, but if we don’t care take of our own games, there’s no sense and it doesn’t really matter what anyone else does around the league. If we don’t win hockey games, it doesn’t matter.”

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca