Jets jump back into it

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This article was published 12/02/2023 (938 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Jets returned from a lengthy layoff to earn a 4-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks in a rare late-night affair at Canada Life Centre on Saturday.

The Jets were coming off an 11-day absence from game action owing to the all-star break and player’s bye running back-to-back, with the added hurdle of a 9 p.m. start time. They looked no worse for wear facing a tired Blackhawks club that had played the night before, finding their groove as the night wore on and holding off a late surge by the visitors to secure the victory in front of a crowd of 14,440.

Winnipeg scored three times in the second period and added an empty netter in the third, with Blake Wheeler scoring twice and Josh Morrissey and Mark Scheifele also earning goals, to improve the Jets record to 33-19-1 on the season. Tyler Johnson scored the lone goal for the Blackhawks, who fell to 15-30-5 with the loss.

The Jets are now three points shy of the Dallas Stars for first place in the Central Division, holding a game in hand. The Colorado Avalanche aren’t far behind, just seven points back with two fewer games played.

Let’s dig a little deeper into Saturday’s win…

1 The concern for the Jets as they returned to practice was there would be some inevitable rust to shake off.

That certainly didn’t seem to be the case early on, as the Jets came out of the gates with some real pace. The Blackhawks tried to match the intensity, with the play at one point going back and forth for more than six minutes without a stoppage.

Winnipeg appeared to run out of gas by the end of the frame, its play dipping after a Neal Pionk interference penalty at the 12:18 mark. The Jets didn’t allow a shot on the penalty kill but were outshot 10-6 in the period.

It’s the fourth straight game the Jets have been unable to score in the opening 20 minutes and 22nd game this season. The Jets are 14-7-1 when tied after the first.

“I was really happy with the start. We were skating, we were doing all of the right things, and then we took that penalty and that took the momentum away from us and gave them the momentum, so they finished strong there,” said Jets coach Rick Bowness. “Second period, obviously a little bit back and forth, specialty teams. Third period, we got really sloppy with the puck, created a lot of our problems, but I was really with the way we finished that period. The last six minutes, we were in their zone. We didn’t give them anything. We gave them a couple chances in that first half but then we settled down and got going north again. So I was really happy with the end of the period, not so much the first 10, 12 minutes.”

2 The Jets would find their scoring touch early into the second, with Morrissey opening the scoring just 76 seconds into the frame.

Morrissey, who scored twice to spark a come-from-behind 4-2 win over the St. Louis Blues in the game before the break, fired a backhanded shot that found its way through traffic and behind Blackhawks goalie Petr Mrazek. It was Morrissey’s 11th goal and 54th point of the season; he would add another assist before the night was over, leaving him one point shy of Dustin Byfuglien for most single-season points by a defenceman in franchise history.

Winnipeg made it 2-0 fewer than three minutes later, as Wheeler redirected a slap-pass from Kyle Connor with his skate on the power play for his 13th of the year. The goal came near the beginning of the second penalty of a double-minor, high-sticking penalty assessed to Sam Lafferty, who caught Jets defenceman Nate Schmidt in the face with his stick on a shot attempt.

The Jets weren’t done there, either, earning a 3-0 edge by the end of the period thanks to a goal from Scheifele. Scheifele notched his team-leading 32nd of the season, converting a one-timer in front off a beautiful pass from Wheeler.

“Our game is predicated on being able to transition the puck fast and try to get out forwards moving,” said Wheeler. “Obviously, our team moves well, and when we’re moving like that it can create some time and space and that is where we can make some plays.”

The Jets improved to 23-1-0 when leading after two periods.

3 While the Blackhawks have been basement dwellers all season, they’ve liked their game of late. They had gone to overtime in their previous two games — a 3-2 loss to Anaheim on Tuesday, followed by a 4-3 win over Arizona Friday — and despite earning just two of four points, Chicago felt they had played its most disciplined hockey under coach Luke Richardson’s systems.

The Blackhawks certainly had the Jets on their heels for a majority of the third period. Johnson’s goal, which came just 2:08 in, only added to the building momentum for the visitors.

Given the quality of opportunities Chicago generated down the stretch, a comeback seemed almost likely if not for the stellar play of Connor Hellebuyck. Hellebuyck finished with 31 saves, and though he faced the fewest in the third period, a good chunk of those nine shots were quality scoring chances.

“He made some huge saves,” Bowness said of Hellebuyck. “After they scored that first goal you knew they were going to make a big push – they were coming. We bent a little bit too much and when you bend a little bit too much like that you need big saves and he certainly did that for us tonight.”

With the win, Hellebuyck improved to 25-15-1 on the season, with a 2.38 goals-against average and a save percentage of .926 save percentage.

4 One of the ways the Jets felt they could combat their rust was to perform well on special teams. They spent much of practice Thursday and Friday fine-tuning the power play and penalty kill.

That worked paid off, with Winnipeg going 1-for-3 on the PP and a perfect 3-for-3 on the PK. The Jets have dominated the Blackhawks on special teams this season, scoring seven power-play goals on 15 trips and just one power-play goal against in 15 penalty kills.

The Jets PK has been consistent all season, ranked in the top-5 in the NHL, but the power play had hit a rut, going 1-for-22 before Wheeler’s goal. Bowness had made a switch to his two units in hopes of creating a spark, promoting Wheeler to the top group and putting Nikolaj Ehlers on the second, and the move paid off.

“It’s huge. Especially this time of year,” Hellebuyck said of special teams. “You win and lose games like that. That’s playoff hockey right there.”

5 Up next: The Jets wrap up their current two-game homestand against the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday, before setting off on a four-game road trip. The eight-day trip includes stops in Columbus Thursday and New Jersey Sunday, followed by games against the New York Rangers and New York Islanders Monday and Wednesday, respectively.

Jeff.Hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jeffkhamilton