It took two weeks between games and their first shootout of the season, but the Winnipeg Jets picked up their ninth straight victory last night in a 4-3 win over the St. Louis Blues. There was plenty to take away from this one as the Jets returned with a win from the Four Nations Face-Off break.
The Winnipeg Jets set a new franchise record winning streak
Nine straight wins is a new franchise record for this Jets club, with their last loss coming on January 20th against the Utah Hockey Club. The same game that Scott Arniel called “embarrassing”, and it is safe to say that the Jets’ response to that game has been more than admirable.
“I really liked our effort”, Scott Arniel said after the game on the radio to CJOB.
Without Connor Hellebuyck and Josh Morrissey on this night, who both flew back to Winnipeg to join the Jets after their Four Nations Face-Off appearances, many of the Jets’ key players stepped up in a big way.
Adam Lowry returned to the lineup, and the third line of Niederreiter-Lowry-Appleton didn’t miss a step. In their five-on-five minutes last night, they outshot the Blues 7-2, out-chanced them 5-3, and controlled 84.31% of the expected goals.
Photo Credit: Colby Spence (Illegal Curve)
“It’s an awesome accomplishment,” Arniel said on the winning streak. “I don’t want to take it away from the guys, what they’ve done it’s been fantastic. This one’s kind of weird because it comes after a two-week break, so I’m more proud of the guys, how we came out after being off so long.”
With no Hellebuyck, Eric Comrie got the start and stopped 21/24 shots, including all three attempts in the shootout, to secure his sixth win of the season and third straight.
Gabriel Vilardi picks up right where he left off
Their chances to extend that streak looked impossible after Pavel Buchnevich gave the Blues a 3-2 lead with 2:50 remaining and with a full 2:00 power play still to work with.
With the goalie pulled late in the game, the Jets pulled off some heroics to bring this game to OT, as Gabriel Vilardi deflected a point shot past Joel Hofer with 27 seconds remaining in the game for his second goal of the evening and 26th of the season.
Photo Credit: Colby Spence (Illegal Curve)
“The game isn’t over until that last buzzer goes,” Ariel said.
Vilardi now has four goals in his last two games, as he scored two goals in a 4-3 win over the Islanders, which sent the Jets into their break.
As much as we’ve talked about the brilliance of Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele this season, who are near the NHL’s goal-scoring leaders, Vilardi is putting forward an incredible season on that top line, one that will surely earn him a raise from his $3.475M contract that expires this offseason.
Cole Perfetti stays hot through the break
Cole Perfetti extended his points streak to six straight games last night, as he feathered a pass over to Nikolaj Ehlers on a two-on-one to open the scoring.
He’s now got 10 points in his last seven games and looks to be hitting his stride at the perfect time as we head into the final stretch of games.
Photo Credit: Colby Spence (Illegal Curve)
Last year, at this time, Perfetti was in the middle of an extended goal drought and falling down the lineup. He has turned that around this season, as he’s being trusted with top-six minutes currently thriving with the opportunity.
I wrote more about Perfetti and what the final stretch could mean for him two days ago here.
Vladislav Namestnikov extends two more years
The morning of this game, Jets forward Vladislav Namestnikov signed a two-year extension worth $3M per season ($6M total).
Namestnikov has 30 points through 53 games this season and has filled that second-line centre role all season long. This is a solid piece of business for Kevin Cheveldayoff, locking up a pending UFA at a reasonable cap hit in a rising salary cap environment over the next two seasons.
Photo Credit: Colby Spence (Illegal Curve)
While it is fair to argue that Namestnikov is better suited as a depth option for the playoffs, at $3M per season, the Jets won’t be paying a premium for a solid depth option that will help contribute to wins throughout the two-year extension.
That’s just one name down in a long list of UFAs and RFAs for Kevin Cheveldayoff to sign this upcoming offseason.
Up next
The Jets have as good of a chance as possible to push that franchise-record winning streak from nine to 10, as their next game comes at home against the San Jose Sharks on Monday, February 24.
Stay tuned to Illegalcurve.com for all the latest Jets and Moose news through the weekend and into next week.
