Lots of talk about trap games and while the Jets were saying all the right things in advance of this contest their play in the game was not indicative of this as the Wings looked way hungrier than Winnipeg. Lots of unusual bounces including Darren Helm scoring when Nathan Beaulieu hit the linesman to make it 1-0 and then back-to-back goals in off Neal Pionk to make it 3-0. Even when Michigan product Kyle Connor scored twice in the 2nd to make it a one-goal game the Wings got a bounce on a late 2nd period power play off Luca Sbisa to regain the two goal edge.
The Jets just didn’t look like they had it at all. Couldn’t complete a pass if their lives depended on it. Even when they pulled Connor Hellebuyck with 3:12 left in the 3rd they couldn’t sustain pressure with the 6 on 5 advantage and then Filip Hronek fired it into the Jets empty net from behind the Wings net to make it a 5-2 game.
For those who would like to take a deeper dive into the advanced stats here are the results from the game via Natural Stat Trick.
Notable:
– Kyle Connor with 2G;
– Mark Scheifele with 2A;
– Patrik Laine picked up his 21st of the season (in his 30th game);
– Laine had 20 assists in 82 games last year.
Audio:
Blake Wheeler
Nathan Beaulieu
Connor Hellebuyck
Coach Maurice: Assessing the game. What were some of the challenges getting the legs up to speed? On the pucks that went in off Neal Pionk. The late 2nd period penalty.
All audio courtesy of TSN 1290 Winnipeg.
Up next:
The Jets will return to Winnipeg and will have the day off on Friday. You can kick start your day with the Morning Papers which go live tomorrow at 7 am on illegalcurve.com.
