Recap:
The 1st period was all Winnipeg as the home side took advantage of the power play to give themselves a 1-0 lead when Mark Scheifele scored his 14th. About four minutes later “4th liner” turned 1st liner Mathieu Perreault have the Jets a 2-0 lead. The opening period was all Winnipeg as they out shot Ottawa 19-3 after 20 minutes.
The middle frame didn’t get any better for the visitors. Blake Wheeler opened the scoring with his seventh of the year on a nifty pass by Mark Scheifele from behind the Sens net to make it 3-0 just three minutes into the period. Then with the Jets on a 5 on 3 power play Patrik Laine made no mistake to give the Jets a 4-0 lead as he scored his 13th of the season. Tyler Myers, playing in NHL game number 500, didn’t want to be left out and he gave the Jets a 5-0 lead, which was the third power play goal for Winnipeg in four attempts.
The 3rd period was pretty ho hum aside from the fact that the Jets put up 23 shots.
The Jets are now 17-6-4 on the season which has them first in the Western Conference. Connor Hellebuyck is now 15-2-3 on the season.
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.
Notable:
– Mark Scheifele 1G (14) 1A
– Blake Wheeler 1G 3A
– Mathieu Perreault 1G 2A
– Dustin Byfuglien 2A
– Tyler Myers scored a goal in his 500th NHL game
– Patrik Laine scored a goal in his 100th NHL game.
Health Update:
When asked if there was an update on Kyle Connor the Jets bench boss indicated “Nothing more today. I don’t have the answers yet.” When asked if the rookie will make the trip our east with the team Paul Maurice said “correct”.
The other injured Jets player is goalie Steve Mason who remains out with a concussion. “He’s is feeling really good. He is going to do the test here in the next day or so. He went hard today for an extended period on the ice, no shots, but positioning, things like that, so he’s moving along quite quickly.”
Audio:
Blake Wheeler
Mark Scheifele
Mathieu Perreault
Connor Hellebuyck
Coach Maurice: On the chemistry of Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler. What make Wheeler such a good leader? Having both power play units going. Update on Kyle Connor? Update on Steve Mason? Was that the most complete game his team has played all season? More on Scheifele and Wheeler pushing each other.
The former NHLer turned analyst shares some thoughts before the Jets and Lightning game.
Jets bench boss joined the guys for a chat about his 15-1-0 hockey club.
TSN Hockey insider Darren Dreger discusses.
A look at the projected lineup with all the latest game info.
Keeping you up-to-date with all the latest pro hockey news in Manitoba.