Jets survive late Predators push

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This article was published 19/11/2019 (2119 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

NASHVILLE — The Winnipeg Jets haven’t exactly been blowing the doors off enemy buildings of late but keep slipping out of town with well-earned wins.

By doing so they’re becoming rather conspicuous in the NHL.

The Jets ran their road winning streak to five games, including three on the current trip, with a 2-1 victory Tuesday night over the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena.

The Preds had the full-court press going in the third period, firing 16 pucks at Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck. He was a brick wall, turning aside 38 shots, as the hosts carried the bulk of the play in the second half of the game.

“He’s standing on his head right now and it feels good for everyone in the room. In the third period we gave them a lot more than we wanted to, but when you’ve got a goalie like that who stops everything, it’s a little more calming,” said winger Nikolaj Ehlers, whose second-period bullet — his 10th goal of the season and the 100th of his career — proved to be the game-winner.

Winnipeg (13-8-1) has been dynamite away from Bell MTS Place this season, going 8-3-0. The team wraps up the trip Thursday night against the Dallas Stars before returning home to face the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night.

The Jets are 10-1-1 in games decided by one goal this season. 

Patrik Laine scored his fifth goal of the season just 18 seconds into the game for the Jets, who led 1-0 and 2-1 at the period breaks. Nick Bonino supplied the only goal for the Central Division-rival Predators (9-8-3), now winless in five games.

Indeed, the visitors had the early jump, although they found themselves in survival mode in the final frame.

“Sometimes they’re not all going to be pretty and I think we’ve relied on (Hellebuyck) to make key saves. It’s important that you find ways to win on the road and you kind of grind some out,” said centre Adam Lowry. He and linemates Andrew Copp and Mathieu Perreault had an impactful shift late in the third period, hemming the puck near the Preds net to give their goaltender and blue-liners a short respite.

“Nashville’s got a lot offence and they create a lot of chances. I think we did a pretty good job of, for the most part, keeping those chances to the outside. Good teams find ways to win, whether it’s a 5-1 game or a 2-1 game, and I think we’ve shown we’re pretty comfortable in any style.”

The Jets began the trip with victories over the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning by identical 4-3 scores. 

The Predators, a desperate club with just one win in eight tries, tried the physical approach in the first period. Recent call-up Mathieu Olivier, playing his first NHL game, threw his body around, while Filip Forsberg dished out a couple of big hits and was the object of Jets defenceman Nathan Beaulieu’s anger late in the period.

Laine has distributed the puck effectively of late but was on the receiving end of a slick saucer pass by Kyle Connor to score the game-opener on the first shift of the night. The Predators generated a quick chance off the initial faceoff but Viktor Arvidsson fired wide and the puck sailed out to the neutral zone. Laine grabbed it, chipped it to Connor, sped to the net and got the return pass for an easy tap-in goal behind Nashville goalie Juuse Saros.

The Jets survived being two men down late in the first frame and then killed off the rest of Blake Wheeler’s slashing penalty early in the second. Upon his return, the captain had a rough ride, falling awkwardly in front of Saros and missing two shifts. He returned and promptly took a puck to the cheek.

Ehlers ripped his team-leading 10th goal at 3:47 of the second period, although the setup by Jack Roslovic was worthy of a long string of superlatives. Roslovic made a quick turn along the wall, found his linemate cruising in and connected.

“He excels at it. Every forward tries to do it, but his ability to come out of a turn and then think about being a threat, that’s where it all happens. When he comes out of the turn, he doesn’t pause and look for the pass,” said Maurice. “He’s a threat and that changes the threat of the defenders. Somebody else covers over on him, so there’s the guy on Jack and then there’s the next layer takes a step into his lane and then he finds (his teammates).”

Bonino notched his ninth goal of the season with just 1:49 left in the second period to spark the Predators.

“We had two really powerful, offensive teams that we just played and they had chances and our goaltending was really good again here (Tuesday). You’re not coming into these games on the road thinking you’re going to outshoot them a whole bunch or out-chance them a whole bunch,” said Maurice.

“We know, when you go into Tampa and you go into Nashville, they are going to get theirs.”

Hellebuyck ran his record to 10-6-1, while adding even more of a shine to his glitzy numbers. He now boasts a 2.35 goals-against average and .930 save percentage.

He said the barrage of shots from the offensively loaded Preds in the final frame didn’t exactly come as a surprise, adding the Jets defence kept the front of his crease clear of obstacles.

“That’s just kind of how the NHL game is now. I’ve been seeing over the years that when the team is up, the other team (provides) a little more pressure and starts taking a little more risks. I don’t think they had anything too good because I thought we kept them to the outside and kind of controlled where the shots were coming from,” said Hellebuyck. “That said, they’re probably trying to generate a whole lot in the third and I thought we did a good job of shutting them down.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell