Game 67: Jets 3 Devils 2 post-game report

The Jets are now 41-17-9 with the 3-2 win over Devils in their third game of this six-game road trip.  This was also the fourth win in a row for Winnipeg.  They sit six back of Nashville (who beat the Ducks tonight) for 1st but have a eight point lead on the Wild who sit in third spot in the Central.

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:

Pre-game:
– Michael Hutchinson’s plane was delayed so the Jets signed Zane Kalemba to a PTO.

1st
– Who else but Patrik Laine opens the scoring for the Jets (third straight game for him) with his 39th of year;
– He now has a 10 game points streak (14 goals six assists);
– Sits one behind Alex Ovechkin (40) for most goals in the NHL;
–  Ties Sidney Crosby for goals as a teenager (75);
– Assists to Paul Stastny and Nikolaj Ehlers.
– Devils out shot the Jets 14-8 after 20.

2nd
– Michael Hutchinson made it in time to start the middle frame on the bench;
– Jets successfully killed off the Josh Morrissey which began at the end of the 1st;
– Andrew Copp threw a tremendous open ice hit on Travis Zajac;
– Shortly thereafter Joel Armia showed that there is more than one Finn on this team;
– He curled and dragged, used a Devils D man as a screen and gave the Jets a 2-0 lead;
– It was his 11th goal of the season which sets a new career high;
– Assists to Ben Chiarot and Connor Hellebuyck;
– Devils made it 2-1 when Palmieri beat Connor Hellebuyck up high on the breakaway;
– Shots were even 11-11 that period, giving the Devils a 25-19 edge after 40 minutes.

3rd
– Midway through the period Nikolaj Ehlers kept a puck in the Devils zone, set up Byfuglien who rips it off the post;
– Ehlers put home the rebound to give him 26 on the season;
– Assist to Byfuglien.
– Devils score just a minute+ later to make it a one goal game;
– NJ pulled Schneider with 2:14 to go but couldn’t solve Hellebuyck.
– Shots were 18-5 for New Jersey as they pressed for the equalizer for a final total of 43-24.

Numbers:

– Patrik Laine 39th goal puts him one back of Alexander Ovechkin (40) for most in the NHL;
– Nikolaj Ehlers hits a new goal total record with 26 which he accomplished in 15 fewer games than last season;
– Paul Stastny added an assist which gives him two goals and four assists in five games with his new team;
– Connor Hellebuyck is now 35-10-8 on the season with a 2.39 GAA and a .923 save %;
– Connor Hellebuyck eclipsed the franchise wins record for a goalie passing Kari Lehtonen who had 34.

Road Warriors:

While the Jets have been excellent at Bell MTS Place their road record earlier this season wasn’t worth writing home about. They were 10-10-6 in mid January but since January 20th have gone 7-0-1 and sit at 17-10-7 away from Peg’ city.

Audio:

Connor Hellebuyck

Nikolaj Ehlers

Patrik Laine

Coach Maurice:  Thoughts on the game.  What has the group done to protect leads so well this season?  On the goal by Ehlers.  What did he think of the game overall with the new look lines?  Update on Kulikov?  What happened in warm-up?  On Hellebuyck setting the wins record for the franchise.  On the backup goalie (Hutchinson) not being at the rink for puck drop due to plane delay.  On the hit on Josh Morrissey and whether he will be OK.

Audio courtesy of TSN 1290 Winnipeg.

Health Update:

Dmitry Kulikov took his last shift in the 2nd period with just over three minutes left in the middle frame.  He wasn’t seen on the Jets bench in the final period of play.  Coach Maurice was asked post-game about the status of his veteran defenceman “Upper-body, day-to-day.  Nothing sinister.  Just kinda cramped up on us and couldn’t go.”.

After taking a tough hit in the 3rd period from behind into the boards Josh Morrissey was down on the ice for a few seconds before getting to his feet and making his way to the Jets bench.  After some attention from the Jets medical staff he was back on the ice and played right until the final buzzer.  When asked if Morrissey is going to be OK, Coach Maurice said “Yup.  We believe so”.