Jets wallop Preds 6-2; one win away from Western Conference final

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This article was published 06/05/2018 (2685 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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NASHVILLE — Talk about vintage Winnipeg Jets hockey.

Flash some heart, grit and resilience in the face of impending disaster. Demonstrate an unwillingness to falter by flipping some internal switch that makes things all better.

There’s always a response, often with a stunning outcome.

Coming off a seriously flawed performance in Game 4 in their home rink, the Jets picked up where they limped off, getting manhandled by the Nashville Predators on Saturday in the opening period of Game 5.

Only the sensational goaltending of Connor Hellebuyck saved their collective can.

But someone changed a few vital fuses during the intermission and the Jets exploded for four goals — including the first two post-season goals of Kyle Connor’s NHL career — in the second period en route to a shocking 6-2 triumph over the Predators.

Winnipeg leads the best-of-seven, second-round NHL series 3-2. Nashville and Winnipeg finished as the NHL’s top two squads, respectively, during the regular season. 

“We just have an unwavering confidence in ourselves, and I think we have that because of the depth we have on our team. We rely on every single guy,” said captain Blake Wheeler, when asked to explain the team’s resilience.

“We had four lines playing fast tonight, and you go into a game where you know it’s going to be a tough game and you have four lines and six defenceman who can contribute, you can go into that game with a lot of confidence.”

Indeed, the Jets are buzzing near some rarified air space — the NHL’s final four.

They can touch down in the Western Conference final with a victory on a manic Monday in Winnipeg. Game time is 8:30 p.m., although downtown streets will be crammed with thousands of Manitobans in their finest whites long before the puck drops at Bell MTS Place.

“It’s a big game for us and kind of setting ourselves up good here, but just trying to stay in the moment,” said Connor, following his high-flying effort. He led all NHL rookies with 31 regular-season goals.

He said frustration hadn’t crept into his game despite going nine playoff games without scoring.

“Not really. The team was scoring and I knew if I kept working hard, the results would come,” he said. “I think you have to trust your skill, trust your work ethic.”

Hellebuyck handily won the battle of Vezina Trophy nominated puckstoppers. He finished with 38 saves, while Pekka Rinne allowed six goals on 26 shots before he was pulled in the third period.

“(Hellebuyck’s) been great, obviously, all year. There are going to be moments when he’s going to have to stand tall,” said Wheeler. “That’s what a good team has. There’s going to be times when he doesn’t have to do much of anything, there’s going to be times where he’s going to have to play great. Tonight, he had a little bit of both.”

Worries the Predators had discovered the magic formula to nullify Winnipeg’s firepower were alleviated in the second period.

Positioned at the top of the crease, Paul Stastny was credited with the Jets first goal when a shot from Patrik Laine glanced off his glove and popped behind Rinne at the 7:44 mark.

Preds blue-liner Yannick Weber picked up a loose puck off a Jets turnover, scooted down the left side and ripped a shot over Hellebuyck’s left should at 11:08 to even the contest.

But then Connor scored a pair, sandwiched around a hard blast by defenceman Dustin Byfuglien that Rinne couldn’t snag. The three tallies came in a span of four minutes, 31 seconds.

Nashville centre Ryan Johansen scored short-handed to close the gap with just 2:01 left in the period.

Connor’s confidence, clearly soaring, made a slick move to walk around Johansen and set up Mark Scheifele’s ninth goal of the playoffs just 28 seconds into the final period.

Mathieu Perreault, out since the Jets’ playoff opener against the Minnesota Wild on April 11, was back in the lineup and jammed in a power-play goal six minutes later, chasing Rinne from the crease. He was replaced by Juuse Saros.

“That’s fun to watch. It’s got to be more fun at home, with our crowd,” said Hellebuyck. “It’s going to be awesome (with an opportunity to clinch in Winnipeg). “Our home fans have been waiting for this for a while.”

The Jets were more like gliders in the first period, showing very little propulsion, an inability to combat the Predators push and a total lack of offensive thrust.

The scenario was similar to the Game 4 in Winnipeg, except Nashville didn’t just hold off the Jets with a stifling trap, they also generated some terrific scoring chances of their own. Hellebuyck was on his game early, stopping Kevin Fiala’s high shot with his shoulder and then sliding over to deny Kyle Turris with a brilliant pad save on the rebound.

The Jets, hemmed in repeatedly by Nashville’s forward units, emerged from the dressing room for the middle period in an altered state.

“Keep our composure. We’re doing fine. The score is 0-0,” said Perreault, on what was said during the intermission. “Obviously they had more chances, but it’s a new period. And then we started getting our legs going.

“We just got our legs underneath us, started to play a bit more loose, maybe.”

Nashville’s star defenceman, P.K. Subban, said despite the lopsided result the Predators’ resolve to continue the chase for the Stanley Cup is unshaken.

“It just seemed like every time we made a mistake it ended up in our net,” said Subban. “The fact of the matter is, we had to go to Winnipeg anyway. We’re going to go there, we’re going to win a game, we’re going to come back here. It’s that simple.”

Wheeler, a key contributor with three assists, balked at the suggestion the Jets struggled in the first period, although there was hint of sarcasm in his words.

“Loved our first period, couldn’t disagree with you more. It was loud in there, they fed off the energy of the crowd. I thought we were real poised,” he said. “There was obviously going to be a huge push from them… in their building and feeding off their crowd. I thought as the period wore on it started to look more like a hockey game and we went into the room with a lot of confidence.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell