It was fixin’ to be one of those days. The Jets couldn’t seem to get a break from the refs, our powerplays looked good but we couldn’t get anybody to pull the trigger, and Tobias Enstrom got beat up which left Dustin Byfuglien dazed and confused in his own end. Then, the clouds parted, and somehow Kyle Wellwood and Evander Kane managed to hit the same puck in the air at the same time, putting it between Jose Theodore’s wickets to throw us into OT. In the shootout, Andrew Ladd did what he does, which is “work,” Ondrej Pavelec kept his head and committed larceny, and Kyle Wellwood clinched it, because the general feeling is that he needs to prove to the Jets even more so that he’s the best deal they made in the offseason. Claude Noel didn’t emote, but I heard he did congratulate the stick boy on a job well done. We will melt this man’s heart.
1st Period: 3:44 Winnipeg ES Goal, Kyle Wellwood (Andrew Ladd, Mark Stuart); 9:58 Winnipeg PP Goal, Evander Kane (Nik Antropov, Zach Bogosian); 19:40 Florida ES Goal, Jason Garrison (Brian Campbell, Tomas Fleischmann)
2nd Period: No Scoring
3rd Period: 3:13 Florida ES Goal, Tomas Fleischmann (Mike Weaver, Kris Versteeg); 17:50 Florida PP Goal, Tomas Fleischmann (Dmitry Kulikov, Brian Campbell); 19:10 Winnipeg ES Goal, Evander Kane (Kyle Wellwood, Zach Bogosian)
Shots: Winnipeg 31, Florida 42
- Yeah, that’s two goals for Kane tonight, and both were things of beauty. The second is well-documented above; the first was a cool snapper near the top of the circle that just straight-up beat Jose Theodore blocker side. He might not always be the best guy on the ice, but when he puts it together he is an awesome player to watch.
- Scottie Upshall is probably going to be reviewed by the NHL for hitting Kane up high. It was shoulder on head, which is notoriously difficult to look at and determine intent, but it looked like Upshall reached out and Kane wasn’t really in control of the puck yet.
- Pavelec was all over the ice, like literally, falling down, scrambling, diving, lunging…this team is going to keep him in shape. He got beat pretty bad glove side by Fleischmann on the powerplay, but that wasn’t really his fault as Flash was given all day in the slot. But the Garrison one, also glove side, was almost laughable. He had to have been screened on that one, or else I don’t know what to tell you.
- Alexander Burmistrov, for the first time, didn’t really jump out at me today. Everybody can have their off-games, so no biggie.
- On the flip side, how about Ladd and Wellwood? Both guys were awesome out there, creating chances and driving the offence. The first goal was the result of an awesome forecheck by Ladd, who finished it by making a smart pass to the second guy into the crease, Wellwood. Wellwood might be the first person I’ve ever known to get an assist by hitting a puck in the air, only to have another guy hit the puck again while it was still in the air to get the goal. Ladd and Welly scored both of the goals in the shootout too. Added bonus for Ladd? He fed Jack Skille some knuckles, Skille the one who instigated the fight with a guy who has a smashed up face. More on that scum below.
- Skille knocked Tobias Enstrom out of the game with a high hit, on a fairly easy interference call that wasn’t called at all. Bustin truly did look lost out there without his little urchin boy.
- Randy Jones had a couple of big opportunities, which he didn’t do so well on, but it’s excusable because I think his last scoring chance was the same year Mark Scheifele was born.
- Tim Stapleton had a little razzle dazzle out there, but the guy has to pull the trigger. He knows it, too, and he’ll get ’em next time.
- Bustin is probably the most hot-cold player I’ve ever seen on the ice. When it works for him, he can dominate, but when it’s off it’s hilariously bad. Only not terribly funny to us. Or Claude Noel.
- We got the W, now we’re 1-0 against our bitter rivals.
This is for the Jets and Evander Kane, because that snapper was frickin' sweet and the team didn't give up…
