Top line powers Jets past pesky Sharks 4-3

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This article was published 18/12/2024 (296 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Hello there, old friends. Welcome back to the NHL penthouse.

The Winnipeg Jets are once again all alone on top of the league standings — a spot they occupied through the first month of the season before their play began to take a bit of a nose-dive — following a dramatic 4-3 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night at SAP Center.

Jets captain Adam Lowry broke the tie with just 73 seconds left in the third period as he made a perfect tip of a Dylan DeMelo point shot. It’s already the ninth goal of the season for the veteran shutdown centre, whose career high of 15 was set over 82 games back in 2016-17.

“Just a pure sniper,” a laughing Lowry told the team’s social media about his offensive explosion. “I don’t know. It always feels like I go through hot and cold streaks. It seems like the puck’s going in for me right now.”

The same could be said of Kyle Connor, who truly is a pure sniper. He scored twice, including the tying goal with just over eight minutes left to play, to increase his team-leading total to 19. Linemate Mark Scheifele had the other tally along with two assists, while the other member of their line, Gabe Vilardi, had three helpers.

Winnipeg improves to 23-9-1, including 5-1-1 in the past five games as they put an ugly stretch (three wins in 10 games) in the rear-view mirror. San Jose falls to 11-18-5 despite giving the visitors all they could handle.

“I thought San Jose played a real good game. They were fast, aggressive, good in the neutral zone. It was frustrating at times,” said Lowry.

Despite their current lot in life, you won’t see any victory laps at this point from the Jets. Championships aren’t handed out in December, after all.

“We’re not real concerned about our standing in the league right now,” coach Scott Arniel told the team’s social media.

“We’re worried about our Central Division. We have three or four teams that aren’t going away and it’s going to be this way right until the end of the year. We’ve just got to take care of our business.”

The Jets have all their mothers (and a few sisters) on this two-game swing through California, which ends on Wednesday night in Anaheim against the Ducks. This is the second-ever trip of its kind, with the first one in 2020 ending in three losses to the Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets and Chicago Blackhawks.

“I’m real happy to get the first win for the moms and the sisters here,” said Arniel. “To get that one, I know they’re going to be feeling pretty good about it. We’ll move into Anaheim and hopefully get two (wins for them).”

Let’s break this one down further:

TOP LINE SHINES

Winnipeg’s top line came to play, with Connor, Scheifele and Vilardi really tilting the ice at times while everyone else was still trying to find their legs.

“They generated some momentum and it seemed like in the first two periods they were our consistent line that had some O-zone pressure.,” said Lowry.

“The rest of us struggled to kind of establish our forecheck and get in the zone consistently. For the most part we were better in the third, but I think start to finish clearly they were our best line.”

Connor opened the scoring just past the midway mark of the first period, finishing off a terrific three-way play for his 18th of the year.

After the Sharks had tied it early in the second, Scheifele scored his 17th of the year, this time on the power play, to restore the lead.

Winnipeg then gave up two straight goals to the home side before Connor restored his personal two-goal cushion on Scheifele in the third, ripping a wicked wrister with the Jets once again enjoying a man advantage.

“Our power play has been unbelievable all year, but two power play goals again, KC, what a shot. That was able to get us back in the game and give us some life late in the third,” said Lowry.

This was the eighth game of the year Scheifele and Connor have both scored at least once in the same contest. The Jets are now 7-1 when they both score.

“We’ve had some good looks on the power play there. And we talked about a certain play, we had a little extra time reviewing (a potential) goal there, and just came up with a good game plan,” Connor told the team’s social media.

“And everybody was on their toes. And they got the puck over to me, Gabe made a great pass across the seam, and yeah, just put one in, put a shot on net there.”

That was also a bit of a milestone tally, as Connor tied former captain Blake Wheeler for third all-time in franchise goals (262).

“I wasn’t aware, but that’s obviously a pretty special player that I look up to,” said Connor. “I was lucky enough to get to play with him as well and learn a lot from. Yeah it’s a pretty cool milestone for sure.”

KIDS THESE DAYS

The injection of young talent in the NHL lately has been staggering, and Macklin Celebrini should be right at the very top of any list. The first-overall pick from this past summer already looks like a legitimate star and put on quite a show in his first game against Winnipeg.

The 18-year-old set up his team’s first goal early in the second period, scored by former Jets winger Tyler Toffoli, then lit the lamp later in the frame with his team on the power play — a tripping penalty he drew against Jets defenceman Colin Miller by using his speed.

Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck would probably want that one back, although it was a backhander through a screen set up by Sharks forward Alex Wennberg.

Celebrini, who was out with an injury when the Sharks visited Winnipeg in October (and lost 8-3), is now up to 22 points (11G, 11A) in his first 22 games. The sky would seem to be the limit when it comes to his potential.

“Celebrini is dynamic. The thing you really notice about him is his compete. He doesn’t go to the outside or go away from where the battles are, he gets inside,” said Arniel.

“San Jose, they’re looking to obviously build around a player like that and you can understand why he was the first overall pick. He was noticeable, that’s for sure.”

No doubt Toffoli is loving his new linemate, as he’s now up to 13 goals already on the year to lead his club. The 32-year-old must feel like a senior citizen skating beside Celebrini and 25-year-old Nikolai Kovalenko, who drew the primary assist on his tally.

Another promising young Sharks player, Fabian Zetterlund, scored their third goal of the game off a three-on-one rush that came with a Neal Pionk pinch and none of Connor, Scheifele or Vilardi able to cover in time. It’s the 11th of the year for the 25-year-old.

CONFIDENT COLE AND COURAGEOUS CHIBRIKOV

Speaking of youthful players, Cole Perfetti had arguably his best game of the month and was flying around the ice all night.

He had the primary assist on Scheifele’s power play goal, threading a perfect pass, and is now up to three helpers in the last four games. You could see his confidence growing with every shift, including a memorable one late in the second period when he was a one-man cycle in the offensive zone.

Nikita Chibrikov also continued to do things to get himself noticed, such as a great shot block in the first period that appeared to strike him in the knee area. He needed help getting off the ice, but returned in time for the second period.

“Yeah, that’s just the kind of kid he is. He got hit pretty hard,” said Arniel. “He came back in here and walked it off and kind of got some ice on it, got himself back. But it’s going to be pretty painful tomorrow, I’m sure.”

Arniel made one lineup change within the game, moving Chibrikov down to the fourth line beside Rasmus Kupari and Morgan Barron and promoting Alex Iafallo to the second line beside Perfetti and Vlad Namestnikov.

KEY PLAY

Adam Lowry’s deft deflection of Dylan Demelo’s point shot led to the dagger.

THREE STARS

1. Winnipeg LW Kyle Connor: 2 goals.

2. Winnipeg C Mark Scheifele: 1 goal, 2 assists.

3. Winnipeg RW Gabe Vilardi: 3 assists.

EXTRA, EXTRA

Hellebuyck finished the game with 32 saves on 35 shots, while Alexandar Georgiev stopped 29 of 33 pucks he faced.

Winnipeg’s power play went a perfect 2-for-2, and the penalty kill had a solid night going 2-for-3, including killing off a reckless Nino Niederreiter illegal check to the head infraction with just over six minutes left in the third period and the score tied 3-3.

The Jets flew to southern California following the game. Expect backup goalie Eric Comrie to make his eighth start of the year in the back-to-back against the Ducks. He’ll be looking to snap a personal four-game losing streak in the process.

As for other changes, it’s possible Nikolaj Ehlers could return. He suffered a lower-body injury against the Vegas Golden Knights on Nov. 29 and has missed the last nine games. However, he shed his non-contact jersey earlier this week and was a full participant in Monday’s practice and Tuesday’s morning skate in San Jose.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X and Bluesky: @mikemcintyrewpg