WEATHER ALERT

Jets rally to beat Coyotes

Lowry, Niederreiter and Appleton lift visitors with dominant performance

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TEMPE, Ariz. — The message from the so-called third line of Adam Lowry, Nino Niederreiter and Mason Appleton was loud and clear on this day: We’re No. 1.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/11/2023 (701 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TEMPE, Ariz. — The message from the so-called third line of Adam Lowry, Nino Niederreiter and Mason Appleton was loud and clear on this day: We’re No. 1.

How else to view a dominant performance in the desert on Saturday afternoon, one in which they rallied their teammates from an early deficit and led the way to a 5-3 comeback victory over the Arizona Coyotes in front of 4,600 fans at Mullett Arena.

Niederreiter notched a hat trick, while Lowry and Appleton each had a pair of assists.

ROSS D. FRANKLIN / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
                                Jets right-winger Nino Niederreiter (left) celebrates his third goal of the against the Arizona Coyotes. Winnipeg’s Adam Lowry (17) and Mason Appleton (22) as Coyotes defenceman J.J. Moser (90) and Sean Durzi (50) look on during third-period action.

ROSS D. FRANKLIN / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Jets right-winger Nino Niederreiter (left) celebrates his third goal of the against the Arizona Coyotes. Winnipeg’s Adam Lowry (17) and Mason Appleton (22) as Coyotes defenceman J.J. Moser (90) and Sean Durzi (50) look on during third-period action.

“They’re playing with a lot of confidence, and they get all of their success because of their hard work,” associate coach Scott Arniel told the Free Press following the game.

“They work so hard. They’re really tight with the system and they put a lot of pressure on the opposition, especially the defence. They’re big bodies that get in there and muck and grind, and from there they take over.”

Not to be outdone was defenceman Brenden Dillon, who was usually out with that trio along with blue-line partner Neal Pionk and scored the other two goals, along with an assist.

It was just what the Jets needed as they entered play on a three-game winless slide (0-1-2) and didn’t get a whole lot from the actual No. 1 line of Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor and Alex Iafallo. They improve to 5-4-2 on the year, including 1-1 on this three-game road trip. Arizona falls to 5-5-1.

“I think for us and our group just understanding it’s not going to be a Picasso over 60 minutes, there’s going to be some adversity in games,” Dillon said of falling behind 2-0 less than six minutes into the second period off goals from J.J. Moser and Liam O’Brien.

ROSS D. FRANKLIN / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
                                Winnipeg centre Adam Lowry (17) struggles for the puck with Arizona centre Alexander Kerfoot (15) while Jets blue-liner Neal Pionk (4) looks on.

ROSS D. FRANKLIN / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Winnipeg centre Adam Lowry (17) struggles for the puck with Arizona centre Alexander Kerfoot (15) while Jets blue-liner Neal Pionk (4) looks on.

How this did they get the job done? Let’s take a closer look:

1. EL NINO: They’re predicting an El Nino winter in much of Canada, and there’s no question the Winnipeg power forward whose nickname is the same as the warm weather pattern left his mark on the Coyotes in this one.

Perhaps his biggest attribute is a nose for the net, which was on full display when he had an easy tap-in of a perfect Appleton feed to cut the deficit in half at 7:31 of the middle frame.

“Nino didn’t score a goal from more than a foot-and-a-half away from the net,” Appleton duly noted. “That’s him just going there, being in the right spot.”

Indeed, his next two goals were also right in netminder Karel Vejmelka’s kitchen. It’s the third career hatty for Niederreiter, with the first two coming while he was a member of the Minnesota Wild in 2014 and 2018 — both against the Buffalo Sabres.

With this performance, Niederreiter is now up to five goals (one off the team lead held by Connor) and nine points (tied for the team lead along with Appleton, Connor and Scheifele) through 11 games. The 31-year-old, obtained at the trade deadline last season from the Nashville Predators, is in the final year of his deal making US$4 million.

“I feel like the last few games we’ve been playing together, we knew we had to play simple, try to play the right way and work the other team down low, try and get momentum,” said the Swiss product.

“Even if we don’t score, get momentum down there and try to hem the puck down there and get shots on and traffic to the net. It’s something we truly believe is the right thing to do and something you want to be as an identity. Obviously, it was great to get paid off for it.”

Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff might want to get contract extension talks going ASAP.

“He’s a bull,” said Dillon.

“When he gets in on the offence, he’s a big body and knows what his strengths are. That line, they forecheck, they chip pucks in. It’s no recipe. I feel like the other team knows what they’re going to do. Those guys still go out there, they get the puck and spread the zone. Nino, when he’s on the top of his game, he’s shooting pucks, he’s a goal scorer, he’s going to those dirty areas. Just happy to see him have success.”

2. BOMB DOT COM FOR DILLON: His first goal, which came midway through the second period to tie the game 2-2, was nice enough. Forward Vladislav Namestnikov made a shifty play along the boards and fed a perfect pass to him, which Dillon one-timed to snap a personal 31-game scoreless drought dating back to last season.

But his second of the day — the game-winner at 3:23 of the third to snap a 3-3 tie — was a thing of beauty, an absolute rocket to the top corner that players often try out in practice but rarely can execute during an NHL game.

“There was a lot of room. (Appleton) made a great play. Like I said that line does such a great job reading off one another. I saw an opening,” is how Dillon described the blast. “I think for all six of our D we’re mobile guys that can get in and affect it offensively. Just happy to contribute and get a big win.”

Dillon looked like he might be headed for his first career hat trick when his point shot trickled past Vejmelka, only to have Niederreiter sweep it across the goal-line to close out the scoring. But it turns out Lowry actually deflected Dillon’s initial shot, so it would have been the captain’s goal if Niederreiter hadn’t cleaned up.

ROSS D. FRANKLIN / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
                                Winnipeg’s Nino Niederreiter (62) sends Arizona’s Liam O’Brien to the ice as Coyotes defenseman Troy Stecher (51) looks during first-period aciton.

ROSS D. FRANKLIN / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Winnipeg’s Nino Niederreiter (62) sends Arizona’s Liam O’Brien to the ice as Coyotes defenseman Troy Stecher (51) looks during first-period aciton.

3. ABOUT THE ACTUAL NO. 1 LINE, THOUGH: It was a game to forget for Connor, who was beaten badly on the first Arizona goal, and Scheifele, whose ghastly giveaway led directly to the second Coyotes tally.

Consider that in a 5-3 win by their team, the two players (along with Iafallo) were all a minus-two. Scheifele also had a miserable time in the faceoff circle, winning just seven of 17 draws.

There’s no question the Jets need more from their brightest stars.

4. SHOTS ARE HARD TO COME BY: Vegas won a Stanley Cup last year by blocking seemingly every shot that came its way, and the Golden Knights put on a clinic Thursday night in a 5-2 victory over the Jets.

The Coyotes are not in the same weight class, but it’s clear they are trying to employ some similar tendencies. Winnipeg, for example, had 14 shot attempts in the first period on Saturday — but only three actually hit the net.

Arizona ended up blocking 20 Winnipeg shots in this one, while the Jets got in the way of only nine pucks.

“That means our defence just can’t throw them to the front of the net hoping they might get through, just because it kills the offensive cycle,” said Arniel.

“We did a good job using net releases, using the whole ice surface, holding onto pucks a little bit longer and working to get open. Then take the shot once that lane did happen, something’s open for you, then get the puck to the net where you have bodies there. Then it’s all about those second and third chances. Once you get it to the net, it’s crashing and it’s keep beating the guy you’re going against to that puck, and that’s what we did a good job at.”

5. EXTRA, EXTRA: Connor Hellebuyck finished with 22 saves on 25 shots, while Vejmelka stopped 22 of 27 pucks.

Both teams went 1-for-3 on the power play.

Dominic Toninato was the healthy scratch at forward, but he did take the pre-game warm-up as Arniel said there were question marks about the status of a few players. Logan Stanley (10th time in 11 games) and Declan Chisholm (11th straight game) were the blue-line scratches.

Winnipeg will stay in the Tempe area and enjoy a day off Sunday, then practise at Mullett Monday morning before flying to St. Louis. They’ll finish out the road trip by facing the Blues on Tuesday night.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X: @mikemcintyrewpg

Mike McIntyre

Mike McIntyre
Reporter

Mike McIntyre is a sports reporter whose primary role is covering the Winnipeg Jets. After graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College in 1995, he spent two years gaining experience at the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 1997, where he served on the crime and justice beat until 2016. Read more about Mike.

Every piece of reporting Mike produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.

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