Game Notes:
It was a sloppy start to the first period. Brandon Tanev lost control of the puck followed by a bad pass by Adam Lowry from the Jets zone which resulted in a neutral zone turnover and which the Coyotes turned into the opening goal of the game. Winnipeg just couldn’t seem to impose their will on the Yotes. Shots were 9-7 for the Coyotes after 20 minutes.
The 2nd period didn’t look like it was going to be much better. The hockey itself was fairly uninspiring but the Jets did have some success when Matt Hendricks scored his first as a member of the Jets which tied up the game. Shots in the middle frame were 10-7 for the Coyotes.
Just 2:31 into the 3rd period on the power play Dustin Byfuglien made a nice effort to keep a puck in the Coyotes zone. He got it over to Laine who passed it to Wheeler who got it over to Mark Scheifele who made no mistake giving the Jets the lead. It was Scheifele’s 100th NHL goal and he became the first Jets player this season to hit double digits in scoring with his 10th of the year. It wasn’t all good news however as Tyler Myers had, what appeared to be a fairly innocuous collision at the side of the Jets net but he was left on the ground holding his leg. He had to be helped off the ice although he did appear to be walking down the tunnel. Shortly thereafter Kyle Connor scored his fourth goal of the season after Blake Wheeler used his speed to get the puck deep in the zone and Mark Scheifele in behind the Arizona net feathered a pass to Connor who made no mistake to give Jets a 3-1 lead. Shockingly Tyler Myers returned to the bench. Didn’t think we would see him again in this game. Patrik Laine finished things off with an empty net goal to give the Jets a 4-1 lead and runs his consecutive goal scoring streak to five.
Steve Mason picks up his first regulation win for the Jets making 29 of 30 saves in the victory. Jets move to 9-4-3 on the season and move a point ahead of Nashville into 2nd in the central division. Team is 3-1-1- in November.
For those who would like to take a deeper dive into the advanced stats here are the results from tonight’s game via Natural Stat Trick.
What’s Next:
The Jets have travel day on Sunday. The team will then have a day of practice on Monday before they face these same Coyotes in a re-match on Tuesday night. They play three straight at Bell MTS Place.
Coach Maurice post-game:
? Paul Maurice speaks following tonight’s 4-1 win in Arizona.#WPGvsARI pic.twitter.com/SvrE6cFOK8
— Winnipeg Jets (@NHLJets) November 12, 2017
Scrum Topics: On Hendricks getting the game tying goal. On not hitting the panic button. Seeing Tyler Myers back on the bench. On a bounce back game from Scheifele and Wheeler. Play of Steve Mason in net. How big was that win for Mason’s confidence? On both goalies playing well. On Mark Scheifele hitting 100 goals for his career. Is Mathieu Perreault an option for Tuesday or will he hold him out till Thursday. On the three team captains having bounce back games.
