Ugly victories? Jets will take them

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This article was published 23/12/2018 (2450 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

VANCOUVER — Just win, baby.

The Winnipeg Jets appear to have taken a page out of Al Davis’s famous playbook lately, getting the desired results even when their game doesn’t always look right.

That was certainly the case on their three-game western road swing, which began with a disappointing 4-1 defeat in Los Angeles on Tuesday, took a positive turn with a 5-3 victory in San Jose on Thursday and wrapped up Saturday night with tidings of comfort and joy in a 1-0 triumph over the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena.

Players can thank their two masked men for the consecutive wins heading into the holiday break — despite getting outshot 84-48 in those games — which cemented Winnipeg’s place on top of both the Central Division and Western Conference standings.

Christmas came early for Laurent Brossoit and his family. The Jets backup goalie was gifted a start in his hometown Saturday in front of more than two dozen loved ones, then played the game of his life by stopping all 40 shots for his first-ever NHL shutout.

Meanwhile, Mark Scheifele would have no doubt made Davis, the longtime NFL coach, proud when he scored the only goal of the game with 1:32 left in the third period. That stunned the crowd, which had been in a festive mood all night, as the Canucks dominated for large stretches of play against a weary-looking road team playing its ninth game in 16 nights.

“This is one of those games I don’t think I’ll forget. To have that many shots and the game go the way it did, to have my first shutout here in the building that I grew up in, it was definitely a special moment,” said Brossoit, who is now 8-0-1 in nine starts this season. Including one relief appearance, he now has a miniscule 2.11 goals-against average and sparkling .939 save percentage on the year.

Signed as a free agent last July 1 for US$650,000, the former Edmonton Oilers backup, who spent much of last season playing in the AHL, has been brilliant nearly every time head coach Paul Maurice calls his number to give starter Connor Hellebuyck a breather.

“He just hasn’t given us a reason not to start him. As good as he is in the games, he’s good in practice. Pushing hard to get better all the time. A real good personality in the room, and if he was on a longer-term deal, I’d talk more nice things about him. But we’ve got to sign him first,” Maurice said following the game.

Winnipeg improved to 24-10-2, including 11-2-0 in its past 13 games. The Jets are also a perfect 10-0-0 this season when entering the third period tied. That includes consecutive games on this road trip, as Nikolaj Ehlers broke a 3-3 tie Thursday night in San Jose with 3:07 left before Scheifele pulled off the magic 48 hours later in Vancouver.

“Well, what we want to do is work for the full 60. We had a bunch of chances in the first two periods, but we kept going. We didn’t give up. We kept firing each other up and then we got a break,” Ehlers said.

Much like the game in San Jose, where Hellebuyck had to stand on his head at times to give his team a fighting chance, it was Brossoit’s turn to shine as the Jets were outshot 40-23 by Vancouver.

But all it took was one chance, as Blake Wheeler fed Dustin Byfuglien, who found Scheifele open on the left side for a perfect one-timer that beat Jacob Markstrom.

Scheifele has 22 goals this year, second-only to Patrik Laine’s 23. That includes five game-winners, including four in December.

“It was a grinder, it wasn’t easy. (The Canucks) played real hard, real well. And our goaler was our best player. As usually happens with us, at some point Wheeler and (Scheifele) connect and make just a great passing play at the end of the game at the end of a long stretch of hockey,” said Maurice.

Winnipeg more than weathered the storm, stringing together seven wins over those past nine game while other Central Division clubs like Nashville, Colorado, Dallas and Minnesota have all been faltering.

“We talk a lot about living the day. So, we’re happy where we are, we enjoy the win and 50 points gets you about halfway to the playoffs, so there’s a whole lot of work to be done,” said Maurice.

Brossoit’s eight wins is the same number the Jets got all last year from backup goalies Steve Mason (five), Michael Hutchinson (two) and Eric Comrie (one).

“It’s awesome. I’ve skated a little bit with him in the summers and I knew what kind of calibre goalie we were getting. He’s stepped in and exceeded everyone’s expectations. He’s been unbelievable for us and it’s great when you have two goalies that come in and play the way that they have been. You can rely on them basically the same. It’s great to see him playing so well,” said defenceman Tyler Myers.

“It’s his hometown, a game before Christmas and he gets to go and enjoy his family and enjoy the shutout. It was a great game by him.”

The Jets had a couple of injury scares Saturday night, but like much of their season to date, came out mostly unscathed.

Wheeler took a Byfuglien slap shot to the groin area on the first shift of the game and was in distress as he went to the dressing room. However, he only missed one shift and was apparently none the worse for wear.

“He might be the toughest guy I’ve ever coached. I’ve had guys play with cracked ribs, knee surgeries, but he’s left the bench a bunch of times when I had no belief that he’d be coming back. And he comes back – and he certainly doesn’t fake anything. It was a close call,” said Maurice.

Brandon Tanev also took a knee to the face during a first-period collision and suffered some facial damage, returning for the second period with a full shield on his helmet. There must be something about Rogers Arena that doesn’t agree with his mug, because the speedy forward sustained a black eye during a November visit to Vancouver following a fight.

The Jets were already without forwards Adam Lowry and Andrew Copp, who are dealing with upper-body injuries but expected back soon. It will be interesting to see which two forwards come out of the lineup with the return of Lowry and Copp.

Those decisions can wait a few days, at least, as Winnipeg doesn’t return to action until Dec. 27, when they host the Calgary Flames at Bell MTS Place.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg