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Recap: Winnipeg Jets overcome scary Jacob Trouba injury, defeat St. Louis Blues 4-3 in SO

The only thing that really matters after tonight’s game is the health of Jacob Trouba, who needed to be stretchered off the ice after awkwardly falling face-first in the second-period. First things first, I would like to send our best wishes on behalf of us all here at Arctic Ice Hockey to young Mr. Trouba and hope that he is okay.

As for the game, the Winnipeg Jets managed to overcome the scary Trouba incident, and a horrendous start yet again, by storming back in the 3rd to tie the game and eventually defeat the St. Louis Blues in the 7th round of the shootout on an Olli Jokinen wrister. The Blues were playing the 2nd-half of a back-to-back after playing in Chicago last night and looked to tire in the 3rd, but the Jets were full marks for taking advantage, especially being down to 4 defenders after Mark Stuart also exited the game with an LBI. It also didn’t hurt that Brian Elliot looked like a goalie that had only played 20 minutes on the season.

Goals from Jokinen, Evander Kane and Toby Enstrom for the Jets and Alex Steen (2) and David Backes sent this game to the shootout.

Ten Thoughts:

  • Again, best wishes to Jacob Trouba and his family. That was a horrific-looking play, and though it really wasn’t anyone’s fault it sure looked ugly.
  • Claude Noel finally decided to scratch some useless hockey players, but I thought he chose the wrong ones. Devin Setoguchi, Eric Tangradi and Paul Postma all sat upstairs while Blake Wheeler, James Wright and Mark Stuart all dressed. At least Wheeler looked a little more urgent late in the game, but it’s easy to see that his confidence is shot. Oh well, it led to a win, no matter how ugly.
  • The St. Louis Blues are awesome, and if it weren’t the multiple posts they hit in the first and appearing to hit a wall in the third on the back-to-back this could have been a laugher. Full credit to the Jets though for overcoming the injuries to both Trouba and Stuart and taking advantage of the Blues’ tired legs. That’s what this team needs to do.
  • Evander Kane took two more minor penalties and yapped at the refs some more, and ended up being benched for about a 10-minute stretch in the 2nd. But despite all of that, and his fluky double-deflection goal in the third, Kane again looked fast and dangerous all night. But man, the refs hate #thenatural.
  • The Dustin Byfuglien – Grant Clitsome pairing is terrifying. Grant Clitsome should not be a top-4 d-man in this league. It was great to see that Buff was back where he belonged when he was the primary assist on Tobias Enstrom’s tying goal. And Buff played over 31 minutes!
  • TATERS WAS ON THE PENALTY KILL! Seriously, it’s about time that Michael Frolik got out there while down a man. Why it took until now still remains a mystery to me.
  • Ondrej Pavelec did what he usually does. Makes plenty of fine saves, lets in a softy or two and ends up with three goals behind him in regulation. His work in the shootout was soft to start as he allowed first two, but he shut the door when it was needed most to secure the win. I’ll give him a B on the night.
  • That line of T.J. Oshie, Alex Steen and David Backes is incredible. It’s no wonder the Blues are a powerhouse in the West. Pretty cool for Steen to score twice with his father and Jets 1.0 star Thomas Steen in the house.
  • Puck luck is huge! Jokinen’s opening goal was a softy, and Kane’s double-deflection was virtually unstoppable. Without one of those happening, it’s likely a different outcome, but the Jets will take it! #puckluck #PDO
  • Anthony Peluso was the 5th shooter in the shootout for the Jets. Take that as you will…

Up next: The Nashville Predators come to town on Sunday.

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