As games would have it, the Winnipeg Jets and the Washington Capitals played a dandy this afternoon. Lots of back and forth action, and in the end, the Jets won the game in overtime on a goal by Mark Scheifele, despite a challenge by eagle eyed Capitals coach Barry Trotz. A few points…
1. The Jets played a rather disciplined game, letting the otherwise disciplined Capitals team take the majority of the penalties. The Jets didn't capitalize on their opportunities, but it was nice to see the team watch out for the bad stuff, until…
2. Anthony Peluso had a few brain cramps. Peluso let the puck go in the neutral zone, leading to a shot by the Capitals. Feeling bad for himself, Peluso then plastered the opponents face into the boards. The resulting 2 minutes lead to the the Capitals only goal of the contest, tying up the game. Chris Thorburn had a tripping blunder that wasn’t as disastrous but bad none the less.
3. Tyler Myers was Alex Ovechkin’s shadow all game long. Good matchup, as Myers managed to keep Ovi to at least 2 shots on goal, and defended well against Ovi on a pretty loose breakaway attempt. Ovi seemed to get under the skin of Alexander Burmistov at one point, likely saying something non-flattering in Russian.
4. Jeez, enough about Braden Holtby. Yeah, he was good, but the commentators were starting to grate on my nerves with the compliments. As the game wore on, the compliments started to shift, and Connor Hellebuyck began to recieve a good portion of the praise. Connor Hellebuyck’s play will be the reason Ondrej Pavelec gets traded this season!
5. Andrew Ladd was in the right place at the right time, as he calmly waited in the slot, and managed to snap a wrister up and over the left shoulder of the aforementioned Holtby, for the Jets’ only regulation time goal of the contest.
6. Jacob Trouba is beginning to show his leadership skills, as he took exception to a flagrant elbow attempt on Mark Scheifele. Good on him for standing up for his teammate.
7. Mathieu Perreault and Dustin Byfuglien get my “D’ oh!” award for the game, as their blooper and stick dropping/ retreiving antics lead them to taking some unnecessary risks. Yikes.
Overall, a great effort of the Winnipeg Jets, as they manage to snap a 6 game winning streak by the Washington Capitals, and gain a critical 2 points for the standings. Now it’s off to Chicago to face the Blackhawks in a Sunday afternoon tilt.
Until tomorrow, Jets Fans!
