Winnipeg Jets

Coming off of Thursday’s win over the Buffalo Sabres, the Winnipeg Jets were looking for their second straight win when they rolled into Chicago to take on the Blackhawks. “I think that’s the first time in a while which I feel like we outworked the other team,” is what Nino Niederreiter said after Winnipeg secured a 4-2 win. There was plenty to take away from this one, as the Jets became the first team to reach 20 wins in the NHL this season. Jets smother the Hawks defensively The Jets turned in one of their better defensive performances of the season on Saturday afternoon, as they smothered the Hawks and gave them little to no room in all three zones. Defensively, they allowed only 14 shots, two high-danger chances, and 0.81 expected goals (xGA). That is the second-lowest all-strengths xGA allowed in a single game this season for any team. The top spot belongs to Boston against Vancouver on Nov. 26, with 0.78 xGA. That is also the Jets' lowest total of xGA in a single game this season. Their previous high was 1.44 against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Nov 1. “We take a lot of pride in our defensive play and our structure without the puck, and that’s what we look for first and foremost,” Scott Arniel said after the game. As Niederretier said, it looked as though the Jets thoroughly outplayed the Hawks in this one, which was much closer to the standard they had set to begin this season. The third line has a statement game The Jets’ third line of Niederreiter, Adam Lowry, and Mason Appleton had a statement game on Saturday afternoon. In their 12:27 of five-on-five minutes, they outshot the Hawks 8-0, out-chanced them 7-3, and got on the scoresheet with Niederretier’s 10th of the season. Lowry, as he usually does, got the Jets going in this game with a huge hit behind the Jets’ net on Taylor Hall. They were able to cycle the puck at will against Chicago’s top line, keeping Connor Bedard playing defence for the majority of it. Photo Credit: Colby Spence (Illegal Curve) “I thought they could’ve had five (goals) tonight,” Arniel said. “They were really good. They’re heavy, they’re hard to play against when they do that and they get that cycle game going. There was a number of plays where I thought that they had some really good looks, because first and foremost, they got the puck in and then they went to work.” Brad Lambert comes close to first career goal Brad Lambert played his third game of the season on Saturday afternoon and came extremely close to scoring his first career NHL goal a handful of times. No chance better than a back-door pass from Vladislav Namestnikov, where Lambert had a wide-open net to shoot at and fired it wide. Despite missing the open net, there was plenty to like about Lambert’s game in this contest, and he consistently flashed his open-ice speed and playmaking abilities. Arniel, in his post-game comments, highlighted Lambert’s ability to quickly learn how to play at an NHL pace. Photo Credit: Colby Spence (Illegal Curve) “Yeah, he missed the gigantic one, he's gonna be having nightmares about that one with the wide-open net,” Arniel said. “It’s hard for young players, it wasn’t like he got to start the season with us in game one and gradually grow, he’s kind of growing while the water’s running fast and he’s been doing a pretty good job of that.” That line had 9:15 of five-on-five play and won those minutes convincingly. They out-shot-attempted (Corsi) the Blackhawks 11-2 and out-chanced them 4-0 as well. They were not able to get on the scoresheet, but it’s clear that this line is building chemistry and is primed for a big game in the near future. Top line puts another strong game together The Jets’ top line played strong in Buffalo and followed that up with another strong performance on this night. Gabriel Vilardi scored his second goal in as many nights, deflecting a point shot for his 11th goal of the season. In the third period, Mark Scheifele scored the eventual game-winner as he whacked home a rebound shot for his 14th goal of the season. He’s up to 30 points through the first 28 games and is looking more healthy by the game as he continues to take faceoffs. Photo Credit: Colby Spence (Illegal Curve) Both Vilardi and Arniel have spoken over the past couple of days about how much the move of Scheifele going back into his natural spot in the middle has helped this line. In a game such as this one, where they score two even-strength goals and outshoot their opponents 9-4, it’s clear that this line is feeling it right now and feeling healthy enough to outplay the other team’s best. Up next It’s been about a month since we could say this, but the Jets are officially heading back home for more than just one game! Their four-game homestand begins Sunday at 5 pm CT against the Columbus Blue Jackets before they take on the Boston Bruins on Tuesday, the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday, and the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday. Stay tuned to Illegalcurve.com for all of the coverage you need throughout this Jets homestand, as well as keeping tabs on the Manitoba Moose.

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