Jets rally in Florida

SUNRISE, Fla. – This time, there was a willingness to do the hard things and go to the hard areas.

There were ample examples of patience and puck management against a team that won the last two Stanley Cup championships and has represented the Eastern Conference in the league final in each of the past three seasons.

Despite giving up the first goal, the Winnipeg Jets were able to rally with a pair of third-period markers to produce a 2-1 victory over the Florida Panthers on Saturday at Amerant Bank Arena.

“Obviously, that’s a good team. They play a hard style,” said Jets forward Cole Perfetti, who scored the equalizer at 8:34 of the third period. “It’s not easy once they get up. It’s not easy to score on them. They really clog things up and make it hard on you. So, to come from behind and get a win in this building, it’s hopefully huge for momentum.”

The Jets, who improved to 22-25-7, close out a four-game road trip on Monday against the Dallas Stars.

Perfetti’s goal was a great example of being rewarded for going to the blue paint, as he pounced on a rebound after Gabe Vilardi drove the puck to the net.

“I liked the way we competed,” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel. “We stayed in it. Nose to nose with those guys is what you have to do. If you back off, they’re going to run you over. We did a really good job of winning our share of puck battles and did a good job of limiting what we gave up.”

It was the second time this season the Jets have rallied to win a game when trailing after two periods, leaving their record in that situation at 2-18-2.

Let’s take a look at what transpired in this Saturday matinee.

The return

After sitting out as a healthy scratch in 12 of the past 14 games, winger Gustav Nyquist returned to the Jets’ lineup on Saturday.

While he began on the fourth line with Morgan Barron and Cole Koepke, Nyquist was bumped to the top line with Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele during parts of the second and third periods in an effort to try to find some even-strength offence.

Well, that trio was responsible for the game-winning goal, thanks to a nifty passing play that was finished off by Mark Scheifele, who is up to 27 goals and 65 points in 54 games this season.

Nyquist did a great job finding space on the zone entry, showing patience as he cut through the middle and found Connor with a perfect pass through the skates of Panthers defenceman Uvis Balinskis.

Connor then fed the puck over to Scheifele for the go-ahead goal at 15:46 of the third period.

“He has great poise and patience with the puck,” said Perfetti. “And he obviously makes a great play on the entry to (Connor). I mean, you could see it coming from the bench. We knew he was going back door, we’ve seen it many times. And sure enough, he puts it right on a platter for (Scheifele), and he buries it. That was a pretty play from them.”

Nyquist took 18 shifts for 14:36 of ice time and he has nine assists in 33 games this season.

“I know the year hasn’t gone the way a lot of people thought it would go for him, but he’s a very good player,” said Jets goalie Eric Comrie. “He’s got a lot of good experience and a lot of great talent. I hope he really gets a chance to get some points here playing with some good players.”

The start

After Connor Hellebuyck started the previous four games, Arniel went back to Comrie between the pipes on Saturday.

Much like his past two starts, Comrie was solid and gave his team a chance to win, finishing with 27 saves in his 19th start of the season.

Comrie’s career-high for starts and appearances is 20, which he established last season.

Although Comrie was a bit overworked during Hellebuyck’s absence due to a knee injury, he’s regrouped nicely since the Jets’ workhorse returned to action, allowing a total of three goals during his past three starts.

“Earlier, I was pressing the issue a little bit, trying to do a little bit too much,” said Comrie. “Trying too hard is a weird way to say it, but I feel like I was trying too hard. I was putting a lot of pressure on myself, trying to do too much instead of just letting things happen and playing my game.”

This recent run has allowed Comrie to lower his goals-against average to 3.07 and raise his save percentage to .892 as he improved his record to 9-9-1.

“He was fantastic,” said Perfetti. “Their goal was a puck that was going three feet wide and banks off a guy. So other than that, he was flawless. He was amazing. And he’s been like that for a while now.

“We have a lot of confidence when he’s back there, and he’s obviously a great guy to be around. And, when you see a guy get rewarded like that for how much hard work he puts in practice and off the ice, and he plays like that. It’s awesome.”

The save

Although Panthers netminder Sergei Bobrovsky wasn’t taxed in terms shot volume, he came up big when called upon.

One of the best ones was a glove save off Connor, who made a good move to the backhand but was unable to lift the puck high enough to beat the goalie.

Speaking of saves, the Jets’ top defence pairing was responsible for saving a pair of goals in this one, thanks to active sticks.

During a Panthers power play in the first period, Dylan DeMelo made a sliding play to prevent what looked like a goal for Matthew Tkachuk, while Josh Morrissey deflected the puck away from Carter Verhaeghe before he had the opportunity to unload his shot from the slot.

The key play

Scheifele finished off a tic-tac-toe passing play, taking advantage of a bad line change by the Panthers for the game-winner.

The three stars

Cole Perfetti, Jets, Scored equalizer, had three shots on goal.

Eric Comrie, Jets, Made 27 saves to win a third consecutive start.

Kyle Connor, Jets, Set up the game-winner, recorded five shots on goal.

The scare

Jets defenceman Elias Salomonsson was pushed from behind into the boards by Verhaeghe just three minutes into the contest.

Salomonsson, who hit his knee on the play, went down the tunnel for evaluation, but returned a few shifts later.

There was no penalty call on the play.

“We talked to the ref about it, he shoved him hard from behind and into the boards,” said Arniel. “That is a dangerous situation for me and I know that Verhaeghe wasn’t trying to do that but at the end of the day that is the ones where you see guys get hurt, especially races to pucks like that where a guy is at a full head of steam and he can’t get his hands out to protect himself. I thought it was a two minute boarding (penalty).”

Salomonsson has been doing an excellent job on a pairing with Dylan Samberg during his second recall to the NHL.

He’s up to 11 games at this level and seems to be getting more comfortable with each passing day.

Salomonsson’s emergence is one reason the Jets are likely to be in the market to move a veteran defenceman or two before the March 6 NHL trade deadline.

Extra! Extra!

The Jets were zero-for-five on the power play and are in a zero-for-12 slump with the man-advantage.

The Jets healthy scratches were defenceman Isaak Phillips and forward Tanner Pearson.

The Panthers have been dealing with an abundance of injuries all season and on Saturday, they were without centre Anton Lundell and winger Brad Marchand, both of whom are considered day-to-day.

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