Jets rise up from canvas

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This article was published 01/05/2018 (2688 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

They were listless. They were lifeless. And, in a way, they were lucky it wasn’t worse. After all, Nashville rang a pair of shots off the post after already opening up what looked like an insurmountable 3-0 first-period lead over the Winnipeg Jets Tuesday night. If it’s possible, the lopsided score actually flattered the home side. This had all the makings of an embarrassing rout.

But then Winnipeg woke up. Boy, did they ever. One goal, then a second and third in rapid-fire succession. These Jets were coming in waves now, fuelled by a crowd that went from lethargic to complete lunacy in the blink of an eye.

A fourth tally late in the middle frame put an exclamation mark on the most impressive period in franchise history. And sparked an improbable 7-4 comeback victory that will be fodder for one of those “I was there when” stories for an entire generation of fans. And even the players.

“It’s not like you get this everywhere. It’s pretty special to look back on and enjoy it. You’re going to look back on this when you’re old and it’s going to be a pretty good memory,” said defenceman Jacob Trouba, who had a goal and assist in his best game of the playoffs.

With the win, Winnipeg takes a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series that is certainly living up to its billing, and then some. Game 4 is set for Thursday at Bell MTS Place. It’s a rare 8:30 p.m. start.

“It’s not easy to come back from what we did in the first. I think everyone just knows you can’t quit. Never quit. Just keep working and you never know what’s going to happen,” said defenceman Dustin Byfuglien, who played like a man possessed with two goals and an assist. “All season we’ve been preparing for games like this and getting in the playoffs and how to handle ourselves.”

Byfuglien, along with some of Winnipeg’s veteran core, led by example.

Captain Blake Wheeler, who was fighting the puck big-time in the early going, roared to life much like his team and scored the go-ahead goal with just 4:59 left in the third, then added an empty-netter to help seal it to go along with an earlier assist.

“We got kicked in the teeth a little bit in the first and our team has always responded well this year, whether it be a bad game or a bad period. Our goal was just to win the second period and give ourselves a chance,” said Wheeler. “Momentum’s a crazy thing, especially this time of year.”

Trade deadline acquisition Paul Stastny continued to prove his worth by getting his team going with the early-second period goal, then helped set up a couple more. Mark Scheifele chipped in with two helpers.

“Definitely not how you draw up a first period, but nobody panicked. Just kind of regrouped — it wasn’t any different in here than it would have been if we were winning. Just went out there, played a little bit faster and with a little more confidence,” said Trouba, who pointed to a first intermission speech from coach Paul Maurice that may have helped turn the tide.

“Paul just came in here and told us, ‘Go play hockey. Don’t worry about everything around (town) with what’s going on with the playoffs, and coming home. Play loose, have fun.’ That’s what we did,” said Trouba.

It was also fitting that on a night when their goalie, Connor Hellebuyck, struggled mightily in the early going, it was the skaters on this team that bailed him out.

It’s hard to gauge just what kind of lessons this young, relatively inexperienced squad is learning along the way. But they’re certainly checking off quite a few boxes as they play hockey into May for the first-time ever.

They rallied in the third-period to win the first playoff game in franchise history against Minnesota. They rebounded nicely after a bad loss in Game 3 of that series, posting a shutout on the road and then finishing off the Wild by blanking them on home ice.

They took the opener of this series in enemy territory last Friday despite heavily outplayed and outshot by the league’s No. 1 team. And then they had to deal with whatever adversity might come after losing a Game 2 heartbreaker in double-overtime.

It appeared for a while Tuesday night that such a tough loss might have a much bigger impact than players and coaches predicted. Before the game, they were saying all the right things about shaking it off and moving on.

But then the puck dropped and the life was sucked out of the arena. Mike Fisher opened the scoring 4:53 into the game, poking in a loose puck that squeezed through Hellebuyck’s five-hole. P.K. Subban made it 2-0 at 10:06 with a power play blast that also went right through Hellebuyck, and Austin Watson scored at 17:05 for a 3-0 lead.

Fisher hit the post in the final minute of the third, and Filip Forsberg did the same less than 60 seconds into the second.

Seemingly down for the count, Winnipeg picked themselves up off the canvas and stayed in the fight.

Trouba’s point shot just 2:38 into the second hit Stastny’s leg and went in and out so quickly officials didn’t initially rule it a goal.

“I don’t want to say it was a turning point, but that was big for us, especially [because] we started slow,” said Stastny.

After some rough stuff led to four-on-four play – Watson crushed Wheeler with a hit, and Scheifele raced to the captain’s defence — the Jets struck twice in 18 seconds.

A Byfuglien blast and a Trouba Tic-Tac-Toe conversion nearly blew the roof off the rink.

“That was chaos. I don’t know. I think we were excited to score the first one… I told [Scheifele] that the turning point was him taking that penalty, so instead of getting a power play we get the 4-on-4,” said Stastny.

Byfuglien gave the Jets the lead with just 45 seconds left in the period, as Patrik Laine hit him with a rocket of a pass that he one-timed past Pekka Rinne.

Forsberg tied the game with just over 12 minutes left as he beat Hellebuyck high on the power play. Rookie Jack Roslovic had taken a blatant interference penalty less than a minute earlier.

Hellebuyck made up for his earlier struggles by stoning Viktor Arvidsson on a clear-cut breakaway just past the midway mark of the third.

And the Jets repaid their goalie in spades as Wheeler buried the winner with Subban in the sin bin for high-sticking. His empty-netter with 51 seconds left was followed by another off the stick of Brandon Tanev, who has now scored in four straight games.

“It’s all about having faith in the game that you play. We like the way we played in the second. It’s true to our form, our style, the confidence. So, you want to stretch that over 60 minutes. But it’s all about building confidence,” said Maurice.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg