It took until late into the night, but the Winnipeg Jets walked away with a 4-3 win over the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday evening. Here are two takeaways from the win on the first night of a back-to-back for Winnipeg.
Adam Lowry = Captain Clutch
Adam Lowry gave the Winnipeg Jets the 4-3 lead on the eventual game-winner with 1:13 remaining in the third, as he deflected a Dylan DeMelo point shot past Alexander Georgiev.
It was Lowry’s 9th goal of the season, putting him on pace for 22. His career high for goals is 15, which he reached in 2016-17.
Photo Credit: Colby Spence (Illegal Curve)
“(I’m) just a pure sniper,” Lowry joked after the game. “I don’t know, it always feels like I go through hot and cold streaks, and it seems like the puck is going in for me right now. Great shot by (DeMelo) and I’m just doing my best to get in Georgiev’s eyes, and luckily I got a stick on it. Last game, Nino makes an unbelievable pass and I just have to tap it in, so a lot of the credit goes to my linemates and the d pair that I’m out there with.”
Lowry now has goals in back-to-back games and four goals in December. The Niederreiter-Lowry-Appleton line controlled 62.39% of the expected goals in their minutes against the Sharks on this night, and while it took 58 and a half minutes for them to be rewarded, they were finally able to get on the scoresheet.
Jets’ top line shreds the Sharks
The Jets’ top line of Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi has been up and down through the first 33 games of the season, and this was absolutely one of their stronger nights.
At five-on-five, they recorded 24 shot attempts and 12 shots on goal, which are both single-game season-highs for that trio.
The power play also went 2/2, with both goals being worthy of the highlight reel. The first one was an incredible passing play that ended with Mark Scheifele blasting a one-timer past Georgiev, and the second goal was a gorgeous shot by Kyle Connor to tie the game at 3.
Photo Credit: Colby Spence (Illegal Curve)
Scheifele and Connor ended up on the highlight reel, but don’t forget about Gabriel Vilardi, who finished with three assists on this night. He is heating up as of late, as he has now posted four goals and six assists for 10 points in his last seven games.
The Jets’ top line has outscored their opponents 22-19 at five-on-five so far this season, which they’ve been slowly chipping away at after being outscored 9-2 in the first two weeks of the 2024-25 campaign.
Since October 30th, which was a breakout game for this line against the Detroit Red Wings, they have posted some elite numbers. They have outscored their opponents 20-10, and they have controlled 60.45% of the high-danger chances and 56.70% of the expected goals. With Nikolaj Ehlers missing a recent chunk of games with a lower-body injury, the Jets have needed their top line to be stellar, and they have delivered.
Up next
The Jets will play their second game of the back-to-back tonight against the Anaheim Ducks at 9:00 PM central time. That will set them up for a huge tilt on Saturday night, at home, against the Minnesota Wild. The Jets and Wild are currently the top two teams in the Western Conference, and as Central Division rivals, that game is sure to be electric from the beginning.
Stay tuned to Illegalcurve.com for all the updates you need regarding the Jets and Moose heading into the weekend.
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