Jets complete season sweep of Lightning with 4-2 win

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This article was published 02/01/2024 (644 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Jon Cooper has a pretty good idea of what a good hockey team looks like, as he’s been presiding over one for more than a decade.

The head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning was asked about the Winnipeg Jets at the morning skate and he knew exactly what his team was about to face in this second and final meeting of the regular season.

“They’ve all got belief in their system. They get timely goals, the big thing is that both goalies stand pretty tall for them and I think they’re pretty well balanced all the way through, to be honest,” said Cooper. “What’s impressive to me is you pull (Kyle) Connor out of the lineup (with a knee injury) and they haven’t really missed a beat. That’s probably a sign of a pretty darn good team. They’ve got a couple lines that can score, they’ve got lines that can check and they’ve got a D (corps) that defends and can bring pucks out. We’ve already seen them once this year and they’re a tough team to play against. So you know you can’t be giving up a bunch of goals because if you’re expecting to get three or more against these guys, it’s probably not happening.”

Cooper pretty much nailed the scouting report and then the Jets essentially executed the game plan to near perfection, earning a 4-2 victory over the Lightning on Tuesday night before a crowd of 14,157 at Canada Life Centre.

The Jets (23-9-4) were able to build on a December that included a 10-1-2 record by earning at least a point in a ninth consecutive game (7-0-2) as they allowed three goals or fewer for a 26th consecutive game, a remarkable stretch of committed defensive hockey.

“Business as usual. We play to our structure, we play to our systems and like I said and when we break down, (Connor Hellebuyck) bails us out,” said Jets defenceman Neal Pionk. “Everything is kind of clicking right now at five-on-five. I kind of compare it to shooting your low golf round of the year: everything just clicks and you’re doing everything right. That’s kind of what we’re doing. We’re keeping them to the outside, limiting chances and playing well five-on-five.”

Jets head coach Rick Bowness recognizes the commitment his team has shown since training camp began.

“Listen, the guys have all bought in from Day 1,” said Jets head coach Rick Bowness. “That’s what it is. It’s just a complete buy-in from everybody. Tonight we were slow out of the gates, there’s no question, they were coming at us. But good teams find a way to win. Tonight wasn’t a Picasso by any stretch early in the game. But when we got our legs going and started to play Winnipeg Jet hockey, when we get committed to that, there’s not a team in this league we can’t beat.”

Let’s take a closer look at what transpired:

THE TURNOVER – Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy was trying to clear the zone, but his pass attempt was knocked down by Vladislav Namestnikov, who found Nikolaj Ehlers for an insurance marker that proved to be the game-winner at 15:13 of the third period.

“I just tried to take as much room away, I guess,” said Namestsnikov. “He’s on his forehand and there’s a lot of bodies in front, and luckily it hit me. From there I just had to make a play.”

Namestnikov chipped in three assists and is up to four goals and 20 points in 33 games this season. He’s done an excellent job since he was promoted from to the second line from the fourth and continues to show his versatility.

THE CONNECTION – Bowness has been looking for more goals from the defence corps and the second pairing combined to produce the equalizer in the second period. Neal Pionk made his way to the high slot and was in perfect position for a nifty redirection after Brenden Dillon noticed him and delivered a perfect slap pass.

“It’s about time he found me,” said Pionk. “Honestly, we made eye contact in the corner and I said ‘this might happen’ and I actually got a piece of it and it went in. I couldn’t believe it.

“For me to high tip it there is kind of crazy. I know we had good net front there, so I don’t know if he even saw it. It was a good play all around.”

It was Pionk’s third goal of the campaign and gave Jets’ blue-liners a total of 15 markers on the season. Bowness was looking for 40-plus goals from the back end, so they’ll need to up that pace during the second half of the season in order to reach that mark or to hit the 46 they combined for last season.

THE STREAK – By chipping in an assist on the empty-net goal from Morgan Barron with 2:07 left to go in regulation time, Jets centre Dominic Toninato extended his point streak to four games. Toninato has one goal and three assists in four games since taking over on the fourth line after David Gustafsson suffered a lower-body injury in a game against the Boston Bruins.

“He knows what he has to do to help this team win,” said Bowness. “Play his game. That’s why he’s here. We won’t expect him to try to do too much out there. Just, ‘This is what you do well to help us win. The team comes first and winning is all that matters.’ And he buys into that every time.”

HEATING UP – After working his way through an 18-game goal-scoring drought, Jets winger Alex Iafallo is heating up, scoring twice in the past three games and three times in the past eight outings. Iafallo is up to seven goals on the season and back to being on pace to challenge his career-high of 17, set during the 2021-22 season when he was a member of the Los Angeles Kings. Although Iafallo’s play didn’t really dip much throughout his offensive dry spell, having him chip in offensively provides a nice boost to the secondary scoring department. Iafallo’s goal on Tuesday was the result of some good work in front by Cole Perfetti, who showed off his soft hands while battling to get his shot off before Iafallo was able to pounce on the rebound.

THE RECOGNITION – Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck was named the NHL’s third star for December after he went 7-0-2 with a 1.88 goals-against average and .934 save percentage in nine starts. He allowed two or fewer goals in all but one of his December outings. The 30-year-old Michigan product, who captured the Vezina Trophy in 2019-20 as the NHL’s top netminder, shares second place in the league with 17 wins through 26 total appearances (17-6-3). He also ranks among the league leaders (minimum of 12 games played) in GAA (5th; 2.34) and S% (7th; .919). Colorado Avalanche centre Nathan MacKinnon paced the NHL with 18 assists and 29 points in 15 games to take first-star honours for December, while Toronto Maple Leafs centre Auston Matthews led the NHL with 15 goals in 12 games to earn the second star. Hellebuyck continued his outstanding stretch by making 33 saves to earn his 18th victory of the campaign.

EXTRA, EXTRA – Bowness said Gustafsson remains day-to-day, while Jets forward Rasmus Kupari is a candidate to return to action on this upcoming three-game road trip and is ready for contact, while defenceman Ville Heinola continues to progress but hasn’t been cleared for contact just yet. Due to injuries and salary cap concerns, the Lightning were forced to go with five defencemen and 13 forwards in the contest. The unusual deployment made for a long night for Lightning stalwart Victor Hedman, who logged a game-high 29:14 of ice time, finishing with four shots on goal and assisting on both power-play markers. Nikita Kucherov also chipped in a goal and an assist and continues to lead the NHL with 63 points in 38 games.

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

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