Jets stay in playoff hunt with 4-3 overtime victory over Columbus

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/03/2022 (1261 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Jets, clinging to their playoff lives, narrowly escaped another demoralizing loss in a season that’s had far too many.

But to steal what’s become a popular phrase around these parts from Jets interim head coach Dave Lowry, Winnipeg isn’t in a position to critique victories. And while Friday’s 4-3 overtime win against the Columbus Blue Jackets in front of 13,475 at Canada Life Centre was far from pretty, the Jets will take the two points and live to fight another day.

“I thought that we played a real solid game,” Lowry said. “We had a purpose and it showed.” 

Up 3-2 with just seconds remaining on the clock, it looked as though Blake Wheeler had iced the game, sending the puck nearly 150 feet into an empty net to put the Jets up by two. But the goal was negated owing to a slashing penalty called on Josh Morrissey, giving the Blue Jackets one last chance to tie.

“When that happens, I feel like the smallest guy in the arena,” Morrissey said.

With the faceoff in the Jets’ end, Columbus’s net empty and 20 seconds left in the period, it took the Blue Jackets just six seconds to even the score. Oliver Bjorkstrand cleaned up a Zach Werenski shot in front for his 23rd of the season, sending the game to extra time.

“At the end of the day, emotions are high, it’s the last minute of the game. Obviously we’re battling. I didn’t like the hit, but at the end of the day, I gotta control my emotions there and not put my team down and take the goal off the board,” Morrissey said.

From there, it was Nikolaj Ehlers who would play the hero. The Jets speedy winger was sent in all alone from the red line before beating Elvis Merzlikins through the five-hole to end the game for good.

“I like the five hole,” Ehlers said. “I did a couple shoulder checks there. I just didn’t want to come in with too much speed, and that’s why I kind of let up there a little bit. That’s why I was checking to see where he was at.”

There’s no denying many on the Jets haven’t lived up to expectations this season, but Eric Comrie continues to buck the trend.

Playing in relief of Connor Hellebuyck for just the 11th time this season, the Jets sturdy backup proved once again to be part of a winning recipe, turning aside 33 shots. Comrie is now 8-2-1 on the season, with victories in each of his last five starts. Merzlikins finished with 29 saves in the loss.

“Eric gives us an opportunity, just like Bucky (Connor Hellebuyck),” Lowry said. “They give us an opportunity to win hockey games and that’s what the expectation is. You always like to see a guy who works as hard as Eric have success. I know that his teammates are extremely happy for him as well.”

With the win, the Jets improve to 31-25-10 and are now three points shy of the Dallas Stars, who have three games in hand, for the final wild-card playoff spot in the Western Conference. The victory should also help rid the awful taste left in Winnipeg’s mouth after falling to the Ottawa Senators 5-2 at home on Thursday.

The Blue Jackets drop to 32-29-4 with the loss, their third in the last four games.

Lowry opened the game by shuffling the deck up front, re-arranging all four of his forward groups.

Long-time line mates Blake Wheeler and Mark Scheifele were split up, with Scheifele centring Paul Stastny and Nikolaj Ehlers and Wheeler on his right wing alongside centre Pierre-Luc Dubois and Kyle Connor. Adam Lowry returned from the NHL’s COVID-19 protocols to centre a line with newly acquired wingers Zach Sanford and Mason Appleton, with the fourth trio rounding out with Dominic Toninato between Jansen Harkins and Evgeny Svechnikov. 

“We’ve been bouncing different ideas around and we had a full complement of forwards tonight,” Lowry said. “Obviously, I liked the size factor, I liked the skill factor of (Dubois) and (Wheeler) and KC (Kyle Connor) and I liked the speed and we know that (Scheifele), (Stastny) and (Ehlers) have played well and they’ve had a history and they do have some chemistry so we just went back to it.”

The swap did little to spark the home side early on but the Jets still managed to escape the first period up 2-1 despite generating a mere four shots on net.

Dominic Toninato opened the scoring at the 7:14 mark of the first period, redirecting a Brenden Dillon shot past Merzlikins for his sixth goal of the season and first in 14 games.

Kyle Connor doubled the Jets lead minutes later with his team-leading 41st of the season. The 2-0 marker came while on the penalty kill, with Toninato stepping in front of a Jakub Voracek pass near the Jets blue line before sending Connor in alone on a breakaway, where he solved Merzlikins with a move to the backhand.

But before the Morrissey interference penalty expired, Columbus cut the lead to 2-1. Adam Boqvist’s shot from the point found its way through traffic and over the glove of Comrie.

Columbus wasted little time getting the equalizer, with Brendan Gaunce making it a 2-2 game just 3:22 into the second period. The goal came after a turnover by Logan Stanley deep in the Jets end, leading to Emil Bemstrom setting up Gaunce in the slot for his fourth of the season.

Winnipeg picked up the pace after that. The final shot of the period would eventually hit twine, as Mark Scheifele set up Morrissey in the slot for a power-play goal and a 3-2 lead with 30 seconds remaining.

That set up an exciting third period, one that would require the Jets to find another gear in overtime to keep their playoff hopes alive.

“I like the way that we played 200 feet and I like the way that we managed the puck through the neutral zone. It was a nice change from the night before where we committed to getting pucks deep and we committed to tracking and playing without the puck,” Lowry said. 

The Jets wrap up their four-game homestand Sunday against the Arizona Coyotes, before hitting the road for a back-to-back with Buffalo and Toronto Wednesday and Thursday night.

Jeff.Hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jeffkhamilton