Ehlers a highlight reel in Jets 3-2 OT win over Blackhawks

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This article was published 23/02/2024 (591 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When Nikolaj Ehlers is skating the way he was on Friday night, he’s incredibly dangerous.

The Winnipeg Jets winger was flying and played the role of the human highlight reel on Friday, scoring a pair of goals to help propel his team to a 3-2 overtime victory over the Chicago Blackhawks before a spirited crowd at the United Center.

Ehlers had gone 10 games without scoring a goal and you could tell by his reaction after the first goal that the drought had been weighing on him.

That first goal came from a nearly impossible angle, as Ehlers found some space with a shot that came just before the goal line as he used his blazing speed to cruise down the left wing.

The second one came on a delayed penalty call, as Ehlers went coast-to-coast, accelerating through the neutral zone, cutting to the middle and burying his shot from the slot to give him 18 goals on the season.

“Listen, he’s one of the fastest skaters in the league, without question,” Jets head coach Rick Bowness told reporters in Chicago. “I wanted to put him back on the left wing to see if we could get him going. He was skating much better tonight.”

With the score 2-1 late in the third period, the Blackhawks got a goal from Tyler Johnson with the goalie pulled in favour of an extra attacker with 42.8 seconds to go in regulation. Kyle Connor scored 25 seconds into three-on-three overtime to secure the extra point for the Jets, who finished the season with the Blackhawks with a 3-0-1 record and improved to 14-3-1 against the Central Division this season. It was the eighth career OT goal for Connor and his sixth game-winner this season, which leads the Jets.

Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey made a great defensive effort on the overtime winner, stealing the puck from Nick Foligno as he capped a brilliant night with three assists on the night.

“I was trying to hit (Morrissey) back door there and it just went off (Nick Foligno’s) skate, so sometimes you’ve got to be lucky to get a couple there,” Connor told reporters, noting his team didn’t get rattled by the late goal from the Blackhawks. “I like to think we are a pretty confident group, even-keel at times. You kind of look at what went wrong and if you can (make) any adjustments quick.”

The Jets, who improved to 35-15-5, are back in action Sunday at Canada Life Centre at 5 p.m. against the Arizona Coyotes.

In the meantime, let’s take a look at what transpired on Friday night:

1. The hit – There was a scary moment for the Jets midway through the second period as Blackhawks forward Taylor Raddysh carelessly skated to the front of the net and clipped Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck in the head. Hellebuyck was out challenging a point shot and there’s no issue with Raddysh working his way to try and create a screen, but he needs to be aware of where the opposing goalie is – even if it was clear this wasn’t an intentional hit. Raddysh was given a minor penalty for an illegal check to the head, while Hellebuyck stayed down on the ice for more than a minute as he composed himself. Jets head athletic therapist Rob Milette came out to attend to Hellebuyck and he remained in the game.

Bowness was concerned for Hellebuyck but recognized there was no intent on the part of Raddysh. “Very much so, but it was accidental. The referees did the right thing and gave him a minor,” said Bowness. “It was accidental. But he’s a tough competitor.”

This was an example where it was a bit surprising that the concussion spotter didn’t pull Hellebuyck from the game to send him to the quiet room for some additional testing. Hellebuyck was tested shortly thereafter, stretching out his left pad to stop Jason Dickinson on a partial breakaway. Neal Pionk was called for slashing and it was actually surprising that a penalty shot wasn’t called on the play instead of a minor penalty.

Hellebuyck finished with 33 saves and delivered another excellent effort in what was his 41st start.

2. The search for second-line chemistry – As the quest continues to find the optimal deployment on his second scoring line, Jets head coach Rick Bowness promoted Alex Iafallo to the unit with Sean Monahan and Nikolaj Ehlers. That meant Cole Perfetti was down on the fourth line. Iafallo has gone 19 games without a goal and has one assist during that span, but he was called upon to get on the forecheck and play the role of a dependable worker bee. Iafallo did all of those things and Monahan continued to shine, creating a number of glorious scoring chances. Ehlers finished with three shots on goal in just under 15 minutes of ice time.

“My legs felt good and I think we were able to get the chemistry going right away as a new line. So that’s exciting,” Ehlers told reporters before fielding a question about his second goal. “I tried to build a lot of speed and at first, you just try to get into the zone, and after that I saw an opening and thought I could sneak it through and maybe get a good shot off.”

This probably won’t be the last time Bowness experiments with the trio, but the shake-up was worth a shot and probably warrants another spin on Sunday.

3. The turnover – Bowness showed faith by keeping Logan Stanley in the lineup for a second consecutive game, leaving him on the third pairing with Dylan Samberg over Nate Schmidt. Stanley was a physical presence in the first period, but when his turn-around shot toward the net was intercepted in front by Blackhawks defenceman Seth Jones, it opened the door for Colin Blackwell to fly the zone and sneak in alone on a breakaway. Blackwell buried his chance and cut the Jets lead to 2-1. Mistakes are going to happen, but for a guy trying to make his case to stay in the lineup on a more consistent basis, this is one error that would fall into the category of being avoidable. The safer play would have been to try and send the puck low down the boards.

Stanley finished with one shot on goal in 14:40 of ice time and took a debatable minor penalty for tripping after laying out to block a shot in the third period.

4. Calder watch – It was a relatively quiet game for Blackhawks rookie phenom Connor Bedard, who was held off the scoresheet and managed just one shot on goal in 18:06 of action. Bedard recently returned from a broken jaw and he’s having an outstanding season (17 goals, 39 points in 44 games) – including scoring three goals against the Jets – but he was held in check thanks to a diligent defensive effort. Minnesota Wild defenceman Brock Faber was in Winnipeg earlier this week and is the player giving Bedard the biggest challenge in the chase for the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s best rookie.

5. The sprint to the finish – Friday’s game opened a stretch of 20 games in 37 days for the Jets. After seeing some time between games coming out of the NHL All-Star break, it’s going to be a busy stretch during the final 27 games of the regular season.

“There’s just a tempo and a pace to the rest of the season,” Jets right-winger Mason Appleton said earlier this week. “You get to these final 30 games and everything tightens up and it’s a lot of hockey in a short amount of time. You just get in that flow, you’re playing every other day and your body doesn’t feel great, but you’re playing a lot of hockey and that’s when you can get into that rhythm.

“That’s when you see the cream rise. It’s the best time of the year and that’s when better teams start to pull away from the lesser teams.

“We’re hoping we can find ourselves climbing and climbing. Obviously, we think we’re gunning for that top spot in our division. We’re going to keep pushing. We’ve got two months here left of the season and we want to be playing our best hockey coming into the postseason.”

6. Extra, extra – There was only one lineup change for the Jets, as Morgan Barron returned to the fourth line for Rasmus Kupari. After sitting out on Tuesday as a healthy scratch for the first time this season, Barron was very noticeable, skating well and generating several quality scoring chances for Vladislav Namestnikov and Perfetti, who meshed well with his new linemates but has now gone 15 games without a goal and has only one assist during that stretch.

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

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