Coming off of Wednesday’s disappointing performance against the Ducks, the Winnipeg Jets were looking for a bounce-back performance.
They got that and a lot more, picking up a 5-0 win over the Minnesota Wild in front of a sold-out Canada Life Centre. It was their eighth straight win against their Central Division rival.
The second line with a strong game
Nikolaj Ehlers returned to the lineup on Wednesday, but as he and Scott Arniel admitted, he looked fairly rusty. That was hardly the case on this night, as every member of the second line scored a goal, and Ehlers looked plenty more like his usual dynamic self.
Ehlers started the scoring, and for a team that has struggled with its starts lately, that was a huge goal that gave them momentum early on.
“We knew they were on a back-to-back, and they were obviously going to be a little tired,” Cole Perfetti said after the game. “We wanted to have a good start. We haven’t had that as of late. Our first period was huge, and we really wanted to take them out of the game.”
The Jets generated 11 high-danger chances at five-on-five, which they have only accomplished three times in their last 13 games played. Seven of those came in the first period as the Jets got off to a fast start and carried that momentum through the night.
Perfetti netted his seventh goal of the season early in the third period, capitalizing off of a brutal Wild turnover. He finished with a goal and two assists for an impressive three-point night.
According to Natural Stat Trick, every Jets line was above 65% in expected goals percentage on this night, further demonstrating how dominant of a team effort this was. Arniel pointed that out as a key to victory after the game.
“It’s probably the first time in a while we’ve had all four lines going one right after the other, and that was that continued momentum, shift to shift.”
Special teams were a key yet again
Special teams and goaltending have been the driving force of the Jets’ success so far this season, and this night was no different, as the penalty kill was strong, going 4-for-4.
The league-best power play chipped in as well, going 2-for-5, and almost got a third, as Vladislav Namesntikov’s goal to make it 5-0 came just shortly after a penalty had expired.
Both power play goals came within a combined 20 seconds – Nikolaj Ehlers needed just six seconds on the power play to open the scoring, and Neal Pionk needed 14 to give the Jets a 3-0 lead at the time.
Morgan Barron gets on the board
Morgan Barron scored his first goal of the season with a goaltender (mostly) in the net, as his two so far this season were both empty net goals. It was a well-executed two-on-one with Barron and Iafallo, resulting in the puck sitting still on the goal line for Barron to whack home.
The bottom six played a huge role in this win, which was similar to the last time the Jets beat the Wild. Barron spoke to eight straight wins over the Wild after the game and didn’t have much of an explanation as to why the Jets seem to have Minnesota’s number.
“No, I can’t. They’re obviously a good team,” Barron said. “You can see where they are in the standings. I’m surprised that you said eight in a row because it feels like a battle every time that we play them.”
Up next
The Jets’ final game before the holiday break comes against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday at an odd start time of 1:00 PM central.
A win in that game would give the Jets 51 points at the holiday break – as they would sit alone at the top of the NHL standings. A remarkable feat that has been aided by a historic 15-1-0 start to the season.
Stay tuned to Illegalcurve.com for all the latest Jets and Moose news heading into the break.
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