News briefs for March 22, 2022

It was a neck-and-neck race but ultimately, the PC party managed to retain Fort Whyte.

Obby Khan won with 3,050 votes. Second place went to Liberal Willard Reaves, who had 2,853 votes.

New Democrat Trudy Schroeder garnered 1,112 votes.

Pierre-Luc Dubois and Mark Scheifele scored in the second period to give the Winnipeg Jets a 2-0 lead over the Vegas Golden Knights.

Despite being soundly outplayed and outshot by the visitors, Connor Hellebuyck held down the fort through 40 minutes. He’s stopped all 27 shots he’s faced.

Winnipeg has beaten Logan Thompson twice on 14 shots.

The Jets can close to within two points of the final Western Conference playoff spot with a victory. They have 18 regular-season games remaining after this one, including three more this week at Canada Life Centre.

The Winnipeg Jets were soundly outplayed in a lopsided first period — but Connor Hellebuyck has kept their game against the Vegas Golden Knights scoreless so far.

Hellebuyck stopped all 17 shots he faced. At the other end of the ice, Logan Thompson only had to stop four pucks, and none until more than 15 minutes had expired.

Both teams went 0-for-1 on the power play.

Winnipeg begins the night four points out of the final Western Conference playoff spot, which is currently held by Vegas. This is the start of a four-game homestand for the Jets.

Manitoba’s backlog of surgeries and diagnostic tests has continued to grow to nearly 168,000 cases, according to provincial physicians’ group Doctors Manitoba. 

The backlog of procedures delayed since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic increased by 6,302 cases since its last estimate in February. Increased delays were reported in nearly all areas monitored by Doctors Manitoba. 

“This is a significant increase and it reflects the continued disruptions to surgery and diagnostic testing that has occured throughout the Omicron wave which is thankfully receding but is still present,” Doctors Manitoba president Dr. Kristjan Thompson said Tuesday. 

The latest update from Doctors Manitoba did not account for surgeries and diagnostic imaging procedures that were delayed through February. 

A spokesman for Health Minister Audrey Gordon’s office said the province’s diagnostic and surgical recovery task force is scheduled to provide an update next week. 

The task force has not provided an in-person update since January, owing to a blackout on government communications during the Fort Whyte by-election period.

Manitoba announced a decrease in COVID-19 hospitalizations today.

The province’s pandemic death toll remains at 1,731. No additional deaths were announced Tuesday.

According to the government’s pandemic dashboard, 380 people with COVID-19 were in hospital this morning, including 24 in intensive care. That’s a decrease of eight hospitalizations and an increase of two ICU admissions in the past 24 hours.

There were 118 new cases confirmed through PCR testing as of this morning. The test positivity rate province-wide is 13.5 per cent. There were 1,083 tests processed yesterday.

The province is no longer tracking the majority of positive COVID-19 cases because PCR testing is limited and Manitobans using rapid tests are not able to report their results.

The Winnipeg Jets will have two new faces in the lineup tonight as they host the Vegas Golden Knights — although one of them is quite familiar.

Mason Appleton, a Jets draft pick who was re-acquired in a trade deadline deal with Seattle, is back in the fold. And Zach Sanford obtained from Ottawa on Monday afternoon, will make his debut.

They will skate on a new-look third line with Paul Stastny. Adam Lowry, the normal centre in that spot, remains out of the lineup in COVID-19 protocol and won’t be eligible to return until Friday.

Interim coach Dave Lowry has shuffled his other lines as well. Blake Wheeler, Mark Scheifele and Nikolaj Ehlers will be one of the top trios, while Pierre-Luc Dubois, Kyle Connor and Evgeny Svechnikov form the other.

Dominic Toninato, Jansen Harkins and Adams Brooks are the fourth line. 

Connor Hellebuyck starts in net for the Jets, who are 29-24-10 with 19 regular-season games remaining, leaving them four points out of the final Western Conference playoff spot currently held by Vegas.

Puck drop is 7 p.m. at Canada Life Centre. This is the start of a four-game homestand for Winnipeg.

Two people were taken to hospital after a fire in a 15-storey apartment complex on University Crescent on Monday evening.

Firefighters were sent to the scene in the first 100 block of University Crescent shortly after 7 p.m. They brought the fire under control in roughly 45 minutes. Two people were transported to hospital in stable condition.

Fire damage was contained to one suite, the City of Winnipeg said, but some other suites and hallway areas suffered water damage.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. No damage estimates are available.