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Winnipeg vs. Detroit Recap: Painted the town red

First Period

The Winnipeg Jets got off to a rocky start on Friday night in Detroit. Within the first 30 seconds of the game, Laurent Brossoit was tested which seemed to set the tone for the first ten minutes of the game. Brossoit continued to hold the Jets in the game with a few key saves. Unfortunately an interference penalty by Jacob Trouba put the Jets on the penalty kill and the Wings were able to make the best of it. Andreas Athanasiou gets the one timer and it sails past Brossoit putting the Wings up by one at the end of the first. The score could have been much worse, as the Wings tapped the goalpost on two separate occasions in the first courtesy of Gustav Nyquist and Darren Helm.

Second Period

Shortly into the period, Brandon Tanev, Andrew Copp, and Adam Lowry played a bit of tic-tac-toe and Jimmy Howard came up big. This was the theme for much of the second period, as shots were 21-4 after another twenty. The Jets were able to dictate the pace for most of the period and sustained some excellent pressure on the Wings. Coach Paul Maurice switched up his lines during the third, moving Patrik Laine to the fourth line and Mathieu Perreault up to the second.

The Jets threw quite literally everything they had at Howard during the second and it finally paid off. The top line on the power play tied things up as Kyle Connor capitalizes on the rebound from Blake Wheeler. Tied at one after 40 with shots 30-18 in favour of the Jets.

Third Period

The Jets started the third on the penalty kill after Trouba was called for interference. During the kill, Tanev blocks a shot and the puck comes up high causing him some distress as he leaves the ice. At 13:15 in the third, Lowry and Copp take up real estate in front of Howard and Dustin Byfuglien is able to squeak one in top corner.

Some more back and forth, but this one ends with the Jets up by one. Final shots were 40-28 in favour of Winnipeg and largely in part to their five power plays.

Post-Game Thoughts

  • Maurice switched his lines up during the second period, putting Laine down on the fourth and bringing Perreault up. I don’t necessarily agree or disagree with this move as it gave the Jets some extra fire, but I am a firm believer in giving players some time to form some chemistry before hitting the ‘blend’ button. What do you think about this move for Laine?
  • Bryan Little had himself a hell of a game. 73% on the face off and some exceptional chances due to his speed up the middle. More of this, please.
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