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Winnipeg Jets Net First Win in the Sequel, 2 to 1 Over the Penguins

Hold on, I really need to “NHL.com” that title. How about “Jets Zoom Into Their First Victory.” Hmmm, nope. “Jets Drop Da Bomb on the Pens.” Not good for children. Maybe “Kris Letang is an Asshole.” Also not good for children. Let’s try “Penguins Can’t Stop the Jets’ Assault”, subtitle “Because They Are Flightless, and Kris Letang is an Asshole.” There.

The 2 to 1 victory was made doubly sweet by a whole bunch of great saves by Ondrej Pavelec; it’s worth noting, of course, that the fact that Pavs had to make incredible saves also means our defence was still making some pretty stupid mistakes. Nevertheless, we won, and there were plenty of entertaining storylines to be had. Notes after the jump.

1st period: 0:08 Winnipeg ES Goal, Kyle Wellwood (Alexander Burmistrov, Nik Antropov); 18:27 Winnipeg ES Goal, Tanner Glass (Alexander Burmistrov)

2nd period: 18:22 Pittsburgh ES Goal Zbynek Michalek (Kris Letang, Matt Cooke)

3rd period: No scoring

  • The offence looked curiously good despite the absence of Evander Kane. The early Kyle Wellwood goal certainly helped get the team pumped, and they played some scary-good hockey in the first 10 minutes
  • I don’t know what happened between this game and the Phoenix game, but all of a sudden we had a powerplay that actually looked like a powerplay. A good number of big shots from the point got through, or got tipped, and one time Zach Bogosian even looked like Bobby Orr. Too bad he’s not Bobby Orr.
  • Ondrej Pavelec flopped and flipped and slid his way all over the crease, making big stops when we needed him to. The rebound control could still stand to improve, but otherwise he looked sharp.
  • Andrew Ladd lit up James Neal like Las Vegas near the end of the game. Neal was gearing up to hit Ladd, and Ladd quickly shoveled the puck away and pwned Neal instead. Neal was so caught off-guard he went fully on his ass, like he slipped on two banana peels at the same time.
  • Bryan Little actually showed up today. I was beginning to think the box scores were lying to me.
  • Mark Scheifele was not getting a prime piece of the PT pie tonight; it seems all but certain to me that he’ll be heading back to Barrie soon. Not a big deal, he could use the opportunity to work on his skating and faceoffs.
  • Far and away the best player in the game was Alexander Burmistrov. The guy was making plays (he had two assists on the night), picking off the puck, forechecking effectively, and in general looking like a player on the rise. You’d like to see the guy put on a few pounds, but man is he playing a good game right now. Let’s hope this is the beginning of a solid career.
  • On the flip side, Burmistrov was the victim of a rough hit from behind from Kris Letang. Burmi was able to keep his head up and reduce the impact, and Letang was given a penalty. Being the level-headed player he is, Letang accepted the correct call on the play and went to the box just kidding he flipped his shit. Go feel shame dickhead.
  • If you’ll excuse me now, I’m going to go make loud noises.

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