Jets snap losing streak with 7-4 win in Colorado

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This article was published 31/12/2019 (2076 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

DENVER — The stars came out to shine on New Year’s Eve. And the Winnipeg Jets ended 2019 with a bang instead of a whimper.

Kyle Connor’s second career hat trick sparked the Jets to a much-needed 7-4 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night at Pepsi Center in downtown Denver. The slick winger had plenty of offensive help, including a four-point outing by Mark Scheifele (one goal, three assists), and three-point outings from Blake Wheeler (two goals, one assist), Nikolaj Ehlers (one goal, two assists) and Jack Roslovic (three assists).

“So we had some pretty big performances, and we can talk for about 10 or 15 minutes about Connor Hellebuyck’s impact on that game. Really important. We need those guys to step up,” said coach Paul Maurice.

Indeed, the four goals against might have you thinking Connor Hellebuyck was just mediocre, but the No. 1 netminder stood tall in making 39 saves which kept his club in control most of the night. The victory snapped a three-game winless streak by the Jets and improves their record to 22-15-3, pulling within three points of Colorado, who fall to 23-13-4.

“You’re going in against the highest-scoring team in the NHL, and they’re going to be dynamic. And they score a different way than a lot of other teams. Some of the things they do, just cutbacks alone, they’re elite. So your goaltender’s gonna have to be real good. And he was. He was outstanding,” said Maurice.

“And then even if it didn’t look pretty or look right, we got the shots blocked when we needed to, we got a big battle play, even if there were things you didn’t love about your game. But loved the [drive to] compete enough. Real confident that that game wins most nights.”

The Jets only had two wins in their past eight games, including back-to-back defeats out of the Christmas break against the Stanley Cup champions St. Louis Blues. They had slipped out of the top three in the Central Division to a wildcard spot, and were in danger of falling below the Western Conference playoff line if they couldn’t start stringing together some wins.

Sure, there’s still half a season left, but Maurice said watching the standings is already a nightly occurrence.

“It’s not too early to talk about, and we’re going to be talking about it every day right to the very end of the season. We’re going to be fighting all the teams in the West to make the playoffs,” he said.

Which is why getting a positive result against a team ahead of them was so important. The Jets never trailed in this one, but pulling away from the Avalanche would prove to be difficult.

“You saw it all night. The grit, the grind and the battle. Never giving up. It’s a high-scoring game because it’s two powerhouses going at it,” said Hellebuyck. “They’re a really good team. You could tell they had their energy and their legs underneath them. They never gave up, they never backed down. Those are fun games for both of us.”

Wheeler opened the scoring early in the first period, just the kind of start the visitors were looking for. But Nathan MacKinnon tied it near the midway mark. Connor put the visitors back out in front halfway through the second period, but Mackinnon struck for a second time a few minutes later on the power play to square it all up.

“I thought we came out really well, really strong. In the first half of the first period, we were really good and they got going there for a while and we just had to battle,” said Wheeler.

“It wasn’t always pretty and it wasn’t always us carrying the play, by any means, but you don’t have to win in this league like that. You just battle. We had every guy invested in that battle. There were a lot of one-on-one battles that we won tonight. That was the difference.”

Scheifele gave the Jets a 3-2 lead with just over five minutes left in the second, but the Avalanche evened it up again early in the third, as Gabriel Landeskog scored with his team once again on a power play. This time, it was Connor in the box for a high-sticking double-minor, as his errant twig caught Samuel Girard in the face and left him bloodied.

“It sucks. Kind of one of those ones where you got to control your stick a little better but it happens. It’s kind of tough to sit there watch them score, kind of helpless. All you can do is battle back and try to get one for the team,” said Connor.

Instead of wearing the goat horns, Connor put on the cape and saved the day.

He needed just seven seconds to score the go-ahead tally, at 10:45 of the third period, with the Jets on their first power play of the night. He completed his second career hat-trick with just over three minutes left, giving him 20 goals on the season to lead the Jets. That proved to be the game-winner.

“He’s dialled in. The kid has got world-class hands on him and he just works extremely hard. Since his recall a couple of years ago, he’s just really invested in working every single night and [when] you get a guy who is willing to work like that, playing with a couple of guys like Mark (Scheifele) and Patrik (Laine), he’s going to get his opportunities in tight. He’s lethal,” said Wheeler.

Wheeler scored on an empty-net, as Roslovic passed up an easy goal to give the puck to the captain, who was playing in his 900th game. Nazem Kadri lit the lamp with 43 seconds left on a breakaway to bring the home team a bit closer, only for Ehlers to add another empty-netter with 12 seconds on the clock.

The Jets return home for a Thursday night game at Bell MTS Place against the Toronto Maple Leafs, then go back on the road for four more games in Minnesota, Montreal, Toronto and Boston. More tough tests ahead, but the Jets at least have something to build off of.

“A lot of the St. Louis little mini-series was good, but they’re on a roll right now and have won eight straight and are the defending champs. They might be playing the best hockey in the league right now. So, that was our gauge on where our game was and what we learned is what we could up our battle a little bit. I thought we upped it a little bit tonight, everyone invested in that and that was the difference,” said Wheeler.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg