Jets still have jump

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This article was published 19/12/2021 (1358 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There might just be some life left in these Winnipeg Jets after all. And now the hockey team heads into an extended holiday break in a much more joyous mood, capping off a miserable week with an impressive 4-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Sunday afternoon.

Veteran forward Paul Stastny led the way against his former club, scoring twice and adding his 500th career assist. Nikolaj Ehlers had a goal and three helpers, while Mark Scheifele had a goal and an assist as Winnipeg’s top line came through in the clutch.

“They took over the game,” said interim head coach Dave Lowry, who notches his first win as a big-league bench boss. “They’re three different types of players. Stas is an intelligent veteran, Scheifele is skill and Nikky has speed. And they feed off each other and look to create offence. We challenge them to make sure they play a 200-foot game, and they did.”

Winnipeg improves to 14-11-5 and pulls to within three points of the final Western Conference playoff spot.

“It was a big game, it was a big win for us, said Stastny. “It was something we needed, big time, confidence wise for the morale and everything. It’s nice that Dave got his first win as well.”

The Jets had lost three straight, were still reeling from Friday’s stunning departure of long-time coach Paul Maurice and have been left scrambling with a sudden rash of injuries and illnesses that have depleted their lineup. Blake Wheeler, Nate Schmidt, Evgeny Svechnikov and David Gustafsson were all out of the lineup Sunday 

Plenty of heads were hanging low, and a visit from one of the NHL’s hottest teams — St. Louis arrived in town on a 5-0-2 run — didn’t appear to be the cure for what was ailing them. But the Blues would seem to bring out the best of the Jets, who played one of their most complete games of the year back on Nov. 9 in an eventual 3-2 shootout loss. This latest effort would rank right up there, as well. 

“I wasn’t here for it, but it’s a playoff team (that they played against in a 2018-19 first-round series). You go and have a playoff series and you’re on the losing end of it, right? What playoffs do is they breed rivalries. They go on and they win the Cup. What it does is it challenges you when you play them,” said Lowry, who watched his team fall 5-2 to Washington on Friday in his debut. 

“I thought our guys played an outstanding game. We competed and did everything we wanted to do. I think we realized the importance of the game. Obviously being a division game, and where we are in the standings, the week that we had lying ahead of us. We know we have to play a certain way to give ourselves a chance to win, and we were able to do that.”

The Jets will have plenty of time to savour this one, as they now won’t play again until at least Dec. 27 when the Minnesota Wild are set to visit Canada Life Centre.

Tuesday’s scheduled game in Nashville had already been wiped out by a COVID-19 outbreak that has shut the Predators down through Christmas. Wednesday’s game in Dallas was added to the list on Sunday afternoon as part of a dozen new postponements involving teams that would have had to cross the border. With more than 100 NHL players currently in protocols, the league didn’t want to risk having anyone test positive and get stranded over the holidays. 

“We literally just found out like 10 minutes ago,” Scheifele said shortly after the final buzzer. “So that was the first we heard of it. You never know right now. You could see it coming kind of, we weren’t really sure so obviously we know now and waiting to see what all transpires. We’ll keep rolling with the punches.”

It’s like all of the delayed games, now at 39 and counting, will eliminate NHL players from going to the Winter Olympics in Beijing, with an official announcement expected in the coming days. That three-week window is likely going to be needed for make-ups.

“Obviously, it’s concerning not knowing what is going to happen,” said Scheifele. “Just kind of one of those things you got to kind of take day by day. It’s not in our hands anymore, you know what I mean? You just got to trust in the plan and just keep on doing what you do. It’s one of those things you can’t control so you just got to roll with the punches, like I said before, and hope for the best.”

As for things he could control, Scheifele had a direct hand in setting up Winnipeg’s first goal, feeling Ehlers at 4:40 of the second period to open the scoring. Ehlers quickly grabbed the puck out of the net, knowing Stastny had just recorded his 500th-career assist.

“It’s exciting. Now he’s never going to forget about me,” Ehlers joked after the game. “Stas’ is the smartest player I’ve ever played with. The plays that he makes, they may seem so simple, but he makes them every single time. He makes it so much easier for me to know when the pass is coming, to know when he’s going to wait with it and pass it at a better time. And with Scheif up the middle, the speed that he has… Also a guy who makes incredible passes. I just think we’re using our strengths and it’s working really well right now.”

Vladimir Tarasenko tied it with just over six minutes left in the middle frame, but then Scheifele restored the lead when Ehlers returned the favour and set him up at 16:47. After seeing his linemates both light the lamp, Stastny took his turn early in the third to make it a 3-1 lead. It would prove to be the game-winner when Niko Mikkola scored shorthanded with just five minutes left as the Jets were sloppy of some power play coverage.

Any St. Louis momentum was short-lived, since Stastny buried a sweet feed from Ehlers just 16 seconds later to restore Winnipeg’s two-goal advantage.

“I think we could feel it. There was excitement on the ice, in the building. When you haven’t won in a while and you’re up two goals, you have a power play you think you can finish them and all of a sudden, they score a nice shorthanded goal,” said Stastny.

“We just wanted to get out there and try to get that momentum back, whether it was scoring a goal or whether it was just keep attacking and keep playing aggressive. Fly made a good play slowing up both guys and you know (Adam Lowry), obviously, on the forecheck, giving it back to Fly (Ehlers) so a big goal at a big time in the game. That was needed. And then I think Bucky took care of the rest.”

Indeed, Connor Hellebuyck was solid in net, making 26 saves in the victory. Jordan Binnington made 30 stops for St. Louis, who fall to 17-9-5. 

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg