Jets climb to top of NHL standings with 3-1 win over Ducks

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This article was published 06/01/2024 (640 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ANAHEIM – The way things had been going offensively, Nate Schmidt figured it might just take a lucky bounce for him to find the back of the net.

Instead of relying on a fortuitous carom off a teammate or opponent, Schmidt entered the offensive zone as the trailer, patiently waited, accepted a pass and calmly hit his spot for his first goal since Mar. 12 against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Not only did the marker at 1:57 of the third period snap a streak of 45 games without a goal for Schmidt, it stood up as the game-winner and propelled the Winnipeg Jets to a 3-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Friday night at Honda Center.

Schmidt was quick to praise defence partner Dylan Samberg for finding him in the slot.

“I think I was yelling at Samberg for half the zone,” said Schmidt. “You get a little scared almost when you see your d-partner leading the rush and you’re the next one up. He makes a great play at the blue line and allows that play to happen.”

Seeing Schmidt find the back of the net brought an inordinate amount of joy to his teammates.

“I think I can speak for everyone in here that we’re pretty happy when you’ve got a guy like him who works hard every single night and he gets one,” said Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers. “You can see it on the bench, too, if there’s video of that.”

With the win, the Jets moved into top spot in the NHL with 54 points and a record of 25-9-4.

The Jets will wrap up this three-game road trip on Sunday at 6 p.m. CT against the Arizona Coyotes.

Here’s a closer look at how things developed on Friday night:

ANOTHER STRONG OUTING – Jets goalie Laurent Brossoit came through with another solid performance, turning aside 37 shots in his 10th start of the season.

One of the most important saves was a glove stop by Brossoit on Ducks winger Alex Killorn, which came not long before Schmidt delivered the game-winner.

“You talk about a timely save and they came down and LB made a 10-bell, it was unreal the save he made,” said Jets head coach Rick Bowness. “Outstanding.”

After a challenging start to the campaign, Brossoit’s play has improved significantly as the time between appearances was reduced.

Coupled with the brilliant play of Connor Hellebuyck, the Jets clearly have one of the top tandems in the NHL right now.

“It’s a question that’s pretty easy to answer, and you know the answer, too. The goaltending that we’ve had this season is the best in the league, best in the world, outstanding every single night,” said Ehlers. “You let in one in the first and you don’t panic as a team. Which is something that was different last year. So, now we’re confident in both our goalies out there and we’re playing mostly as a team and that’s what gives us success.”

POWERFUL STUFF – For the second time in as many games, the Jets power play delivered an important goal.

This time it was Cole Perfetti banging home a one-timer after a smart seam pass from Vladislav Namestnikov.

“Yeah I think it truly puts the game in a different light when Cole scores and I think we had a couple really good chances on their power play at the end of the game and if you only have (a one-goal lead),” said Schmidt. “Maybe one of those squeaks in and that’s just kind of the way it goes. You need to have those. If you do get a power play in a game you have to have that mentality, that instinct, that killer instinct of trying to put it away because it does put the game in a much, much different perspective when you’re up by two.”

To bolster the strong stretch of special teams play, the Jets killed off another late power play after Morgan Barron was sent to the box for holding.

Needing two goals to tie, the Ducks pulled the goalie with 3:18 to go in the third period, but were unable to score during the 6-on-4 situation.

“That’s back-to-back games that our specialty teams have won us the game, because the penalty kill was outstanding,” said Bowness. “Six-on-four at the end there and you saw guys diving on shots and blocking shots and doing everything they could to keep the puck out of the net. That third goal was timely. And it was good to see the power play… it was our first and only power play and they connected.”

NO WORRIES – For the fourth time in as many games, the Jets gave up the first goal but they’ve found a way to win each of those contests to extend their winning streak to five games and their point streak to 11 (9-0-2).

“We know how we can play,” said Ehlers. “And I think last game (against the San Jose Sharks), we weren’t good. We weren’t playing completely as a team and in the beginning of the game today it was the same thing. But we know we have a chance. We get behind by one and we have that feeling of we’re still going to win this game. That’s a pretty good feeling to have, which is something we haven’t had for a while.”

THE SOLUTION – The Jets were playing for the fifth time in seven days and there were times when the mind was willing but the legs just weren’t churning the same as usual.

However, the Jets managed to find a way to get things turned around to ensure they have now gone 28 consecutive games allowing three goals or fewer.

“Yeah, we’ve played a lot of games recently. I think our energy, we really had to dig for it,” said Schmidt. “It was just a game where the way that they play, they just allow you into that style and I think we had a couple of really big saves from LB that kept us in the game and woke us up a little bit. Hey, we can’t just sleepwalk our way through this.

“But every time I thought they had a push, we pushed back. That’s just been a huge part of our group this year, and it’s been a lot of fun to be around; you just know what we’re going to get out of our guys and it makes it easy to play when you know what kind of effort you’re going to get. It makes it a lot easier to play when you have that type of predictability in your game.”

Not to mention having the ability to find an extra gear when one is called for.

“Listen, it’s five-in-seven. Very proud of the effort,” said Bowness. “You’re going to be off a little bit and they’re sitting there waiting for us. We will never make excuses for them. Give the guys a lot of credit. They gutted it out.”

TOP LINE DELIVERS – First, the top trio combined for a power play goal on Thursday.

Then the reunited top unit delivered an even-strength marker that evened the score during the second period.

There was plenty of good puck movement during a sequence of events that ended with Ehlers ripping a shot past John Gibson to the blocker side. Gabriel Vilardi did a great job providing a screen as he made his way toward the blue paint and John Gibson, who is a potential trade target for several contending teams dealing with netminding concerns.

After the line with Mark Scheifele in the middle was absolutely on fire during the final five games before the holiday break, things went quiet in the last four games at even strength – prompting Bowness to change up the top two lines for two-and-a-half periods.

On Friday, the line combined for eight shots on goal and 16 shot attempts to go with the goal that got the Jets on the board.

“Obviously we were going pretty well, our line, in the beginning. And then we had a bit of a downfall. That’s what happens,” said Ehlers. “I think overall we’ve got four lines that play well every single night. We’re playing for each other. There are some things that we need to clean up that we don’t want to become habits. But we’re feeling good.”

EXTRA, EXTRA – By notching an assist on the goal from Ehlers, Jets defenceman Neal Pionk collected the 200th point of his NHL career. The Jets went with the same lineup on Friday, meaning defencemen Logan Stanley and Declan Chisholm were healthy scratches. With Saturday as a golf day with the fathers/mentors and no morning skate scheduled with the 6 p.m. CT puck drop on Sunday, neither David Gustafsson nor Rasmus Kupari are expected to return to the Jets’ lineup before the team returns for a four-game homestand. Ducks forward Ryan Strome was a late scratch as he continues to work his way back from injury. Strome received a kneeing major and game misconduct on the play that led to a knee injury for Jets left-winger Kyle Connor, who has been sidelined since Dec. 10 and is expected to miss at least two more weeks, possibly more. The Jets and Ducks will meet one more time this season, in Winnipeg on Mar. 15.

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

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