The Jets played a perfect road period to start the game. The team came out fast and just 26 seconds into the 1st Mark Scheifele scored his 8th of the season. Then they hs Patrik “I’m not longer in a funk” Laine scored his third goal in three games to give the Jets a 2-0 lead on the power play. Then, as the period was about to conclude, Kyle Connor got his 3rd goal of the season to give the Jets a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes. Blake Wheeler had three assist in the opening period to give the captain 5G and 15A for 20 points.
As you might expect the Stars pushed back hard in the middle frame and their captain Jamie Benn took advantage of a Bryan Little penalty early in the 2nd to bring Dallas within two. Both teams had some chances with the Stars controlling the play for the most part, outshooting the Jets 14-7. However, Connor Hellebuyck stood tall and the Jets escaped the 2nd up 3-1.
Both teams had chances early in the 3rd period but both Hellebuyck and Bishop stood their ground. In the end Mark Scheifele puts home a shorthanded goal with Tyler Myers in the box late in the game to give the Jets a 4-1 lead.
The Jets continue to roll having gone 5-0-3 in their last eight games and a perfect 4/4 in the central division with two wins against Dallas and two against Minnesota. Blake Wheeler continues his strong play putting up four assists as did Mark Scheifele with two goals and one assist. The story, though is Connor Hellebuyck, who runs his record to 8-0-2 on the season after making 33 saves this evening and having been sensational for Winnipeg all season long. Overall he has a .936 save %, a 2.12 GAA and his GSAA is up to 9.18 (fourth best in the NHL).
The Jets are off tomorrow in Vegas and then have a few days of practice before a Friday night game in Vegas against the Golden Knights. The Jets are now 8-3-3 and 2nd in the central division (four back of 1st place St. Louis) and tied for 3rd overall in the West.
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.
Jets post-game audio:
Blake Wheeler
Connor Hellebuyck
Mark Scheifele
Coach Maurice: Play of Wheeler and Scheifele. On 26 & 55 pushing each other to be better. Playing the game the “right way”. Importance of Kyle Connor’s goal. Thoughts on Adam Lowry’s game back. Thought’s on Connor Hellebuyck’s game. On the Jets last 12 days. On how the Jets deal with wins/success.
Audio courtesy of TSN 1290 Winnipeg.
