Jets blank Wild to sweep season series

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This article was published 21/12/2024 (265 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Quick start? Check.

Strong special teams? Check.

Sound structure and solid netminding? Check.

Secondary scoring? Check.

Quality finish? Check.

When it comes to checking the boxes head coach Scott Arniel was looking for, the Winnipeg Jets left little room for interpretation as they smoked the Minnesota Wild 5-0 on Saturday before a sold-out crowd of 15,225 at Canada Life Centre.

“I wouldn’t say quite some time, but I would say it’s probably one of our better efforts in the last few games here,” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel.

“We went after them in the first period and kind of continued that through the three periods. Liked a lot of our compete, our little details. A lot of good things that happened.”

The slow starts that hampered the Jets in California were nothing but a memory in this one as the Jets scored twice in the first period and essentially cruised from there.

With the win, the Jets improved to 24-10-1 and extended their lead in the Central Division standings to five points over the Wild, who hold a game in hand.

“We knew they were on a back-to-back and they were obviously going to be a little tired. We wanted to have a good start,” said Jets forward Cole Perfetti, who scored a goal and had three points.

“Our first period was huge, and we really wanted to take them out of the game. And I think we did that. We really didn’t give them anything. Hard on the puck, hard on the forecheck. We really suffocated them all over the ice, and then got a couple goals and really (took) them out of it.”

The Jets also completed a three-game series sweep and have now won eight consecutive regular season meetings against their fiercest rival.

“Is it? I didn’t even know. I don’t know (why),” said Jets forward Morgan Barron, who scored his third goal of the season. “They’re obviously a good team. You can see where they are in the standings. I’m surprised that you said eight in a row because it feels like a battle every time that we play them.”

Winnipeg will play its final game before the holiday break on Monday afternoon against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“Another game like that, exactly,” said Perfetti. “I have noticed we’ve had a tough time against Toronto the last few years. A lot of skill over there, and hopefully we can get one more on the road and hopefully head into Christmas feeling good.”

Let’s take a closer look at this one:

Powerful stuff

This is not a recording, but the Jets’ top-ranked power play produced a pair of goals in short order on Saturday.

They needed only six seconds before Nikolaj Ehlers found the back of the net to make it 1-0 and then only 14 seconds before Neal Pionk extended the lead to 2-0 during the second period.

Both goals came after the Jets’ won an offensive zone draw.

The Jets nearly got a third power-play marker in the third period when a redirection from Vladislav Namestnikov came seven seconds after a minor penalty to Jared Spurgeon had expired.

The Jets have now scored at least one power play goal in 23 games and at least two with the man-advantage eight times, which is one of the reasons they lead the NHL in power-play efficiency.

The power play has gone 11-for-28 during the past seven games.

Earlier in the day, Arniel was discussing the strides that have been taken under the guidance of assistant coach Davis Payne.

“They’re extremely confident going out on the ice. That started at the very beginning of the year and it’s built,” said Arniel. “Our work ethic and our ability to get pucks back if we happen to not have it on our stick. Our movement and our attack mindset, all of those things have been pretty consistent.

“There have been nights where our power play has had to get us into a game or win us a hockey game and really, that’s what the best power plays do around the league.”

Speaking of special teams, the Jets penalty kill was a perfect five-for-five.

“It doesn’t feel like we got caved in a lot of games,” said Barron. “Most of the games it just seems like we let in a squeaker here or there, and it’s one or two mistakes and it’s in the back of the net.

“To kind of get a clean sheet, I think that’s good, and we want to ride that momentum into what’s a good power play in Toronto.”

Barron delivers

There’s been plenty of chatter about the Jets needing a bit more secondary scoring and the fourth line did its part as Barron snapped a 15-game drought.

Barron was on a two-on-one rush with Alex Iafallo, whose shot was stopped by Jesper Wallstedt.

Barron’s two previous goals were empty-netters on the same shift back on Nov. 15 against the Florida Panthers.

“No, everyone has been pretty polite about it — until you,” said Barron, asked if his teammates had been giving him any grief about not scoring on an actual goalie.

“I’ll take any of them. I obviously saw (Iafallo) get the shot off and then I kind of lost it – and then it popped out. Honestly, I thought I could have done a better job stopping at the net before. I almost kind of swung behind, but stopped just in time.”

The Jets also got a pair of goals from the second line after the top trio had done a lot of the heavy lifting of late – along with the power play contributions from both units.

This was secondary scoring at its finest.

“That’s obviously important. There were times throughout this year when we probably haven’t produced as much as we would have liked to,” said Barron.

“At the start of the year, it was a little easier most nights, but as soon as we started losing a few more games, obviously we’ve been through a little bit of a tough stretch for our own standard, then it gets a little tougher. So it was good to contribute and hopefully we can kind of keep rolling.”

No concern for Lowry

Jets captain Adam Lowry left the game in the third period with an undisclosed injury, but Arniel said there was no real concern.

Lowry seemed to be labouring a bit as he left the ice with 11:37 to play, had a brief discussion with head athletic therapist Rob Milette on the bench before going down the tunnel for further evaluation.

“He was just banged up a little bit there,” said Arniel. “He should be fine.”

Ehlers regroups

In his second game back after an undisclosed lower-body injury, Ehlers was much more effective – which came as little surprise after his blunt assessment of his effort against the Anaheim Ducks.

Ehlers finished with three shots on goal and six shot-attempts and was much more noticeable as a play driver as he moved to 10 goals and 27 points in 26 games this season.

“Yeah, when you see his speed like that, when he puts it on display, it’s nerve-wracking for the opposition and especially the defenders who have to play that side of the ice,” said Arniel.

“It just creates offensive zone time for that group. I thought those three, they did a really good job and spent a lot of time down in that end of the rink and they got rewarded for it.”

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

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