Jets sweep Oilers, punch ticket to second round

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This article was published 25/05/2021 (1569 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Jets certainly have a flair for the dramatic.

Entering a best-of-seven series against a high-flying Edmonton Oilers team that had their number all season, few expected to see the Jets escape victorious from the first round in the 2021 NHL playoffs. When you lose to a team six straight games in the regular season, it’s easy to be counted out.

Yeah, well, about that.

Kyle Connor scored at the 6:52 mark into the third overtime in Game 4 to seal a 4-3 victory Monday night at Bell MTS Place. The win completed the series sweep for Winnipeg and ended Edmonton’s bid for the Stanley Cup. It was the third straight game to require extra time, and the second within 24 hours.

In total, the game ran 106 minutes and 52 seconds, making it the longest game in Jets history.

“You don’t want to miss out on that opportunity to close a team out, especially a team that’s capable of coming back, winning four games straight as Edmonton is,” Jets captain Blake Wheeler said. “Nobody wanted to make a mistake and everyone was exhausted. It’s not often you see a breakaway in triple overtime to solve it but tell you what: we had the right guy on the breakaway. We’re pretty gassed but we’re pumped up in our room.”

It was also the first playoff series the Jets have won since 2018, when they defeated the Nashville Predators in a deciding Game 7 to advance to the Western Conference final. More notable, though, is the Jets added to the history books with their first-ever series sweep, breaking a streak that dates back to the Original NHL Jets, when Winnipeg would routinely get steamrolled by the dynasty that was the 1980s Oilers.

How times have changed. Even if there wasn’t ever an easy game.

“They were a battle. It definitely didn’t feel like a sweep, that’s for sure,” Jets No. 1 centre Mark Scheifele said. “We had to grind every single game. There was no easy ice out there. They played fantastic too. They came back in games. They pushed us to the limit, but we just were on the right side of it for those four games. We had every guy out there sacrificing, taking hits, making hits, blocking shots. It was a full team effort and I’m definitely proud of every single guy in this room.”

“Nobody wanted to make a mistake and everyone was exhausted. It’s not often you see a breakaway in triple overtime to solve it but tell you what: we had the right guy on the breakaway. We’re pretty gassed but we’re pumped up in our room.” – Jets captain Blake Wheeler

Indeed, the Jets needed every last bit in the tank to secure the win – and, ultimately, the series. Not even 24 hours removed from Sunday’s nail-biting 5-4 overtime victory, the biggest question mark heading into the night was who would have the best response.

Maurice offered somewhat of a caveat to the rematch Monday, noting that playing on back-to-back nights, though not unfamiliar territory in the regular season was a new experience for him and his teams in the playoffs. “The cost of each one of these games is so much higher than in regular season,” Maurice said. “There’s some unknown to it in how you’ll come back.”

He would get his answer in a big way, watching as his team found yet another way to win a game. Throughout the series, the Jets have fought back from behind, leaned on special teams, played disciplined hockey and held their breath as they attempted to limit two of the best players in the NHL in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

They’ve now punched their ticket to the second round, where they await the winner between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens.

“If you just broke down the statistics of a four-game sweep, you would think there was domination there in the series or that you weren’t tested. And the opposite would be true,” Maurice said. “Big come from behind win, they scored the first goal in Game 1 and stayed in the fight, scored empty-net goals with the goaltender pulled, had your power play come through, your penalty kill come through, your goaltender come through. There was an awful lot.”

With no injuries from Sunday’s match, Jets head coach Paul Maurice went with the same lineup, including running Connor Hellebuyck on back-to-back nights despite a busy 44-save affair in Game 3. Maurice said earlier in the day he wasn’t concerned by the workload and wasn’t willing to take any chances, adding “there isn’t a chance in hell he’s not starting tonight.”

Hellebuyck has been exceptional in the series, stopping 114 of 119 shots for a .958 save percentage. He stole the first two games for Winnipeg, including a 1-0 shutout in Game 2, and bounced back nicely on Sunday, putting together a solid third period and overtime to help secure the comeback.

On Monday, he was back to being a sturdy presence, ending the night with 37 saves.

“They’re a good team over there, but you know what, it’s a testament to the guys in the locker room that grinded and stayed with our game for the last 36 hours. This is the result.” – Connor Hellebuyck

“We weathered the storm, that’s what I’d call it,” Hellebuyck said. “They made a big push. They’re a good team over there, but you know what, it’s a testament to the guys in the locker room that grinded and stayed with our game for the last 36 hours. This is the result.”

The Oilers went back to the 39-year-old Mike Smith. Smith, who returned to the Oilers on a one-year deal, had started five games in net against the Jets in the regular season, posting a sparkling 4-0-0 record, with a 2.06 goals-against average and a .936 save percentage. He didn’t get the goal support he needed in the playoffs, but he did give his team a chance every night.

Smith, who finished with 39 saves, was busy early on, flashing the glove on three separate occasions before the game was even five minutes old. The third snag, off a nifty backhanded play from Scheifele, marked the beginning of a Jets power play – the first of three for Winnipeg in the opening period.

Scheifele was responsible for drawing the holding call on Adam Larsson, and he would finish off the man-advantage by blasting home a one-timer off a Wheeler pass 6:16 into the frame. It was Scheifele’s first goal of the playoffs.

The lead was short-lived, however, as McDavid regained some of his magic from Game 3 to even the score just 77 seconds later with a nice wraparound goal that seemed to trick Hellebuyck. The Scheifele line, consisting of Wheeler and Connor, were caught on the ice for the goal. They would make up for it combining for six points.

“We expect a lot of ourselves, especially with the guys they have on the other side, like Connor and Leon,” Scheifele said. “You have to bring it every single night or they’ll make you pay.”

The Jets had tried to match McDavid and Draisaitl with centre Adam Lowry and the rest of Winnipeg’s designated shutdown trio that also includes wingers Andrew Copp and Mason Appleton. It was fitting, then, that Appleton would put the Jets back up, 2-1, ending a dominating shift against the Oilers top players with a nice tip off a Josh Morrissey shot.

If the Jets owned the first period, the second belonged to the Oilers.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins evened the game at 2-2 just 3:44 into the frame, collecting his own juicy rebound before beating Hellebuyck with a backhanded deke top shelf. Alex Chiasson, who was a healthy scratch Sunday, buried another rebound in front, this time on the power play, to put the visitors up 3-2.

The goal came on the second of four straight penalties called on the Jets late in the second period. Winnipeg hadn’t shown that level of undisciplined play through the first three games, with just seven power plays for the Oilers leading up to Monday.

Just like Sunday, the Jets put up a fight in the third period. The deficit wasn’t as great, but the result was the same, with Winnipeg mounting a comeback and forcing overtime.

It was Scheifele who made it 3-3, snapping home his second of the game at the 6:01 mark of the period. The play started with Wheeler beating a defender with a toe-drag of the puck before dishing it to Connor. Connor then passed behind him to a waiting Scheifele, who fired another one-timer top shelf, over the glove of Smith.

“It took all pieces of our game. I think the idea going into this series was that the regular season was a tell, somehow, and I didn’t feel that way,” Maurice said. “At the end of this, it’s four games of one shot, and we had to weather storms at times, they were dominant, and then we had those times as well. A really, really close series; the 4-0 isn’t particularly fair or indicative of how tight that was.”

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

twitter: @jeffkhamilton