After watching the Winnipeg Jets farm team getting demolished by the Toronto Marlies, I was hopeful that the big club would provide better entertainment. Let’s see if I got my wish….
As has become the norm for the Jets, the Lowry line started things off and immediately had a chance on Arizona’s net when Morrissey set up Niederreiter for a glorious chance, but a nice defensive play blocked the shot attempt. Brossoit began confidently as he easily gloved the Coyotes’ first shot towards Winnipeg’s net and the Scheifele line broke out for their own offensive chance. A nice forecheck by Iafallo on the dump in freed the puck up for the Jet center, allowing him to send it back to the point. A nice move while keeping the puck in the zone saw Morrissey set up DeMelo for a 1 timer, but no traffic in front made it an easier save for the Yotes’ Vejmelka. That almost sums up the first 9 minutes of the opening period, as the two squads combined for a mere 5 shots. Arizona picked up the tempo and started to control the flow of play in the middle of the frame, but Schmidt made a nice stick-check to break up their best scoring chance. Winnipeg responded with a nice shift by the top trio, as Iafallo won a battle behind the net before finding Connor on the doorstep. With a defender draped all over him, the sniper couldn’t solve the goaltender, but he did send the Jets to their 1st PP of the game. The hometown team controlled the puck with the man-advantage, but the first unit didn’t manage a shot and the second group only sent 2 lower danger attempts at the net. The Manitobans continued to push after the PP and Barron joined some of Lowry’s line to set up a high quality look from the mid-slot. The Coyotes’ checking line replied with a shift in the Jets’ end and when Samberg narrowly missed a cross-ice pass, young Maccelli was able to put the visitors up 1-0 with 5 minutes to play. Lowry’s group were immediately back in Arizona’s end, spending an entire shift cycling the puck and allowing the 1st line to continue the pressure. Scheifele was hit with a pass near the right face-off dot and dangled his way into the middle with another drag move. The puck bobbled off his stick, nullifying his initial shot selection but #55 reacted well and smacked a backhand shot into the top corner to tie the game a little over 2 minutes after Winnipeg fell behind. Coach Arniel tapped the Namestnikov line to follow up and they quickly dumped the puck into the Coyotes’ end. The goalie went behind the net to play the puck, but the dump in had great draw weight (a little curling reference for any fans out there) and Vejmelka couldn’t play it without drawing a penalty. Namestnikov took advantage when he shoveled the puck out front, banking it off Arizona’s goaltender as he scrambled to get back into the net. Less than a minute after tying the game, Winnipeg now had a 2 to 1 lead with 2 minutes till the intermission. The visiting team got a chance to tie the game when Pionk got called for a trip in front of his own net and the Yotes have had a PPG in seven straight games. The man-advantage unit was able to control the puck for most of the PP, but none of their shots could beat Brossoit before the period ended.
First Period Stats: Score: 2 to 1 for the Jets, shots 11 to 11 tie, 61.5% Deserve To Win for the Jets, Expected Goals – all situations (0.91-0.58 WPG), & 5 on 5 (0.58-0.55 WPG)
Arizona began the 2nd period on the powerplay still, but they couldn’t get a shot in the remaining minute. The Jets had a good stretch where the Namestnikov, Scheifele, & Lowry lines all had effective shifts in a row, creating a few high danger looks. Another rush by Winnipeg’s top line was broken up as they entered the offensive zone and the Coyotes broke out the other way. Connor seemed to think he had back-checked enough to get in the passing lane, but the puck went by him to allow the pinching Dumba to beat Brossoit to tie the game up. An Appleton tripping penalty gave the Desert Dogs a real chance to gain huge momentum with another PP, but Barron, Lowry, AJF, and Schmidt all made great plays to totally shut down one of the NHL’s better powerplays for the second time of the game. The Scheifele line took the play back into Arizona’s end after the PK and after a cycle, Iafallo was set up for a superb chance from in tight. The goalie was able to deny the opportunity, but Winnipeg kept the gas pushed to the floor as the top line kept possession. Eventually they were able to set up a quick 2 on 2 with Scheifele & Connor and somehow the Yotes left KFC wide open for his league-leading 14th goal of the season. With a one goal lead and 8 minutes to play in the middle period, the Jets were able to control most of the play and Scheifele had another good chance off a deflection in front of the net. DeMelo laid a nice hit on rookie Cooley and Dillon squared off against Arizona 4th liner O’Brien, but other than that, not much really happened.
After Two Periods Stats Score: 3 to 2 for the Jets, shots 19 to 15 for the Jets, 62.5% Deserve to Win for the Jets, Expected Goals – all situations (1.28-0.83 WPG) & 5 on 5 (0.95-0.77 WPG)
The Jets had an early shift by the Namestnikov line that resulted in shots from Samberg, Pionk, and Ehlers, but they couldn’t add to their lead. The Coyotes really started to push with multiple offensive zone shifts, but a couple blocks by Samberg and a nice stick by Niederreiter kept them at bay. Winnipeg was able to counter-attack as Arizona gambled and they were successful when Connor sprung Scheifele with a long pass. Smartly read by Morrissey, the defenseman jumped into the play and the Jets were off on a 2 on 1. Nice patience allowed Scheif to thread a pass close to the defender and set up Morrissey for an easy goal to give the Jets a 4 to 2 lead with 16 minutes to play. The Coyotes went back to pressing for offense and Winnipeg was able to counter with the 4th line, but a beautiful pass by AJF to Barron was broken up by a great defensive play. The Jets went into “if in doubt, ice it” mode as the ice continued to be heavily slanted in the visitors’ favour. Samberg caught my eye again when he helped deny a wrap-around attempt and then Scheifele was sprung on a heavily contested breakaway that ended with a pad save. Not long after, Appleton was able to put the game on ice with an empty netter, with Niederreiter picking up the helper.
FINAL SCORE: WINNIPEG JETS 5 ARIZONA COYOTES 2
SHOTS: WINNIPEG JETS 26 ARIZONA COYOTES 18
Game Observations:
- The Winnipeg Jets are on a hot streak against the Arizona Coyotes, winning both games so far this season and having a 15-2 record in their last 17 matches. The win on Saturday also improved their record against Central Division rivals to 5-1.
- Mark Scheifele picked up a goal and 2 assists to give him 20 pts in 17 games. Kyle Connor scored the league leading 14th goal of the season and his 2 point night puts him with 21 pts. The duo are now sitting in the top 20 of the NHL’s top point getters.
- Mason Appleton pocketed an empty net goal to give him 6 on the season. The gritty winger is on pace for 29 goals and 63 points and seems destined to have a career year. Shouldn’t be that hard, since he’s only 12 points away from tying his best season. Another veteran player on pace for a career year is Brendan Dillon, whose 2 assists tonight have him on pace for the high-30’s. The burly defenseman is coming off his best ever season last year, with 23 pts in 82 games (only the second time he’s ever played in all regular season games).
- Another good game by the Vladislav Namestnikov, Cole Perfetti, and Nik Ehlers line, despite seeing the end of Perfetti’s 8 game scoring streak. The trio easily led the team with a massive 81% of expected goals, edging the top line by a large margin (59.5%).
- Somewhat surprisingly, the Dylan Samberg & Nate Schmidt 3rd pairing had more ice-time than the 2nd pairing of Dillon & Neal Pionk. The advanced stats were not in favour of the move, as the 2nd duo led Winnipeg defenders with 71.8% of expected goals. The Samberg/Schmidt pairing did play well and ended up with a perfectly respectable 59.2% themselves, so neither was a terrible option for the coaching staff.
- I can’t say that Laurent Brossoit played great, but it was probably his best game of the season. The save percentage wasn’t where he would want it (.889%), but most of the NHL is suffering the same problem (average is .903%, the lowest it’s been in a while).
- MoneyPuck Stats: 62.2% Deserve to Win for the Jets, 2.36 to 1.01 in expected goals (all situations) for the Jets, and 1.38 to 0.95 in expected goals (5 on 5) for Winnipeg.
Not the most exciting game, as the Jets stifled Arizona’s offense fairly effectively. The Yotes barely managed to break the 1 goal mark in expected goals, so they definitely weren’t testing Brossoit from high danger areas often. A nice way to play when your squad is in a back-to-back situation, especially when 3 of 4 forward lines chip in with a goal.
NEXT GAME: Winnipeg Jets @ Tampa Bay Lightning – Wednesday, November 22nd @ 6 pm Central
The Jets’ farm team is kind of a mess right now, but an exciting mess. The Manitoba Moose have the AHL’s best powerplay unit, but is struggling to win consistently and sitting near the basement of the Central Division. On a positive note, the young stars continue to shine with all of Nikita Chibrikov, Brad Lambert, and Chaz Lucius scoring at a good pace. Chibrikov is leading the Moose with 13 pts in 12 games, while Lambert (12) and Kyle Capobianco (12) are right behind. Lucius is scoring at 0.83 pts/game and Wyatt Bongiovanni has been a pleasant surprise with 7 pts in 10 games. Declan Chisholm has made an impact on the scoresheet during his conditioning stint, with 3 pts in 4 games. Things aren’t pretty with the goaltending though, as Thomas Milic has now played parts of all 4 games since he was called up from the ECHL. Two of those were starts, but the other pair were early game replacements for Salminen & Delia so his goals against isn’t pretty. He has looked good to my eye-test though, making some huge saves as Manitoba played porous defense in front of him. Hoping to use this small gap in Winnipeg Jets games to get an article about what we could expect from some of the younger Jets’ prospects this year. So keep a look out and let me hear how happy you are about Winnipeg being on another winning streak!!
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