Game 80: Jets 5 Canadiens 4 in OT post-game report

The Jets are now 50-20-10 after tonight’s win over the Canadiens as they go 3-1 on this end of season four game road trip and they continue to increase this record breaking season now sitting with 110 points.  The Jets will end the 2017-18 regular season with two games at Bell MTS Place (Thurs vs Flames, Saturday vs Hawks).

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:

1st
– Patrik Laine’s 44th on the power play opened the scoring for the Jets to make it 1-0;
– Assists to Byfuglien and Connor;
– Nikolaj Ehlers almost inadvertantly finished off a tic-tac-toe play to make it 2-0 for the Jets;
– Lone assist to Stastny;
– After 20 Jets held a 2-0 lead and shots were 10-10.

2nd
– It was mostly a Steve Mason period as the Jets netminder came up big quite a few times;
– Eventually the Jets got into the Habs zone and Jack Roslovic’s fifth made it 3-0 Jets.
– The Jets got sloppy in their end and a quick shot beat Mason to make it 3-1.
– Middle frame ends with both teams adding a goal while Habs outshot Jets 13-8 (overall 23-18).

3rd
– The Jets were a bit casual with the puck and eventually it burnt them when Paul Byron made it a one goal game;
– With 9:45 left in the period the Habs managed to tie things up;
– 24 seconds later Sami Niku scores his first NHL goal on his first NHL shot;
– But it would not be enough as the Habs pulled the goal late with 33 in the box and tied the game.
– 4-4 after 60 and shots were 14-11 for Montreal giving them a 37-29 edge.

OT
– Two best chances to start went to Montreal but Mason was solid;
– Coach showing faith in the rookie gives Niku a chance and he had a great rush showing off the wheels;
– Tyler Myers rung one off the post;
– Seconds later Kyle Connor scores his 30th of the season to win it;
– Jets had a 3-2 shot edge in extra time to end it 39-32 for the Habs.

Numbers:

– Patrik Laine prolific season continues with his 44th goal;
– Sami Niku scored his first NHL goal on his first shot;
– Jack Roslovic had a goal and an assist;
– Kyle Connor had a goal and pair of assists;
– That was Connor’s third OT winner and 30th of the season which gives him the rookie goal scoring lead.

Audio:

Sami Niku

Kyle Connor

Steve Mason

Coach Maurice:  Thoughts on Kyle Connor’s 30th goal.  Thoughts on Sami Niku’s first NHL game.  On Jack Roslovic making it hard to keep him out of the lineup.  Does Roslovic’s fitness factor into his ability to jump back into the game.  Thoughts on Dustin Byfuglien at end of the game.  Thoughts on 50 wins for the club.

Audio courtesy of TSN 1290 Winnipeg.

Next game:

Thursday, April 5th in Winnipeg against the Flames at 7:00 pm.