The Winnipeg Jets were playing the final game of their homestand against the visiting Calgary Flames on Thursday evening. The game had some implications for both franchises, as the Jets could clinch a playoff spot with a victory and the Flames would be eliminated from post-season contention with a regulation loss. The team from south Alberta always seems to play our squad well and typically show bad manners by playing a dirty game when facing the Friendly Manitoba franchise. Lets find out how things went down…
***Life has kind of gotten in the way today and I don’t have time to complete the written recaps of each period. I hope that my short blurb & stats/shot charts will suffice for now, but I do hope to add more detailed recaps later today/tonight. Would appreciate your thoughts or prayers for my father, who is undergoing by-pass surgery today. Thanks.***
CGY better team to start and quickly take advantage of their 1st PP chance to take the lead. WPG wakes up when a PP chance turns into a 5 on 3 and while they can’t score with 2 men in the box, the Jets did get a Vilardi goal just before the man-advantage ended. Less than 2 minutes later, Perfetti wins a battle along the boards on the forecheck before stepping out of the corner and setting up Ehlers for the go-ahead goal.
First Period MoneyPuck Stats: Score: 2 to 1 for the Jets, shots 17 to 8 for the Jets, 69% Deserve To Win for the Jets, Expected Goals – all situations (1.74-0.68 WPG), & 5 on 5 (0.85-0.25 WPG)
Once again, WPG left their energy in the dressing room and CGY controlled the early parts of the 2nd. They eventually tie the game up when a point shot by Weegar deflects off Pionk in the slot and by Hellebuyck. WPG woke up and a cycle shift by the 1st line saw Scheifele hauled down and the Jets took advantage of another PP (Toffoli) to retake the lead.
After Two Periods MoneyPuck Stats: Score: 3 to 2 for the Jets, shots 33 to 23 for the Jets, 74% Deserve to Win for the Jets, Expected Goals – all situations (2.77-1.39 WPG) & 5 on 5 (1.42-0.95 WPG)
Late in the 2nd period, Morrissey took a flying elbow from Pospisil (refs called a 2 min penalty, but review led to a major), but WPG failed to add to their lead with an unimpressive 5 minute PP that included the early part of the 3rd. The Jets did a pretty good job of limiting chances and were able to add a couple more Vilardi goals to pull away (on counter-attack and then into empty net).
After Three Periods MoneyPuck Stats: 86% Deserve to Win for the Jets, Expected Goals – all situations (4.51-2.26 WPG) & 5 on 5 (2.21-1.21 WPG)
FINAL SCORE: WINNIPEG JETS 5 CALGARY FLAMES 2
SHOTS: WINNIPEG JETS 45 OPPONENT 33
Game Observations:
- While the advanced stats and shot charts from MoneyPuck seem to show a dominating performance by the Jets, the reality is that our squad didn’t play very well for the early parts on the 1st & 2nd periods. In a rare occurrence for Winnipeg, it was actually the momentum gained with the man-advantage that sparked better play by the team. The PP units ended up going 2 for 4 with the extra skater, including the Jets’ opening goal of the game & the eventual game winner.
- With the victory over the Calgary Flames, our franchise has officially punched their tickets to the NHL’s “second season“. All the Central Division teams that played last night won, so no changes to the standings (Jets 4 pts behind Avs & 6 pts up on Preds).
- Welcome back, Gabe!! Picking up a hattrick (including a PPG) on a team-leading 9 shots, Gabriel Vilardi was excellent in a game where he put up a massive 2.313 expected goals. The winger also seriously improves Winnipeg’s top PP unit, as his down-low play opens up so many other passing options for other Jets and that is not even mentioning his slick hands & ability to step right in front to challenge opposing goaltenders.
- Other Winnipeg shot leaders included Tyler Toffoli (6), Kyle Connor (5), Sean Monahan (4), & Josh Morrissey (4).
- A couple other players who performed well versus the Flames are Nikolaj Ehlers (goal, assist, 3 shots, +2, and a takeaway) and Connor Hellebuyck (.939 save percentage & 0.27 goals saved above average on 6 medium & 3 high danger scoring attempts).
- The Winnipeg Jets ended up winning 58.8% of the face-offs against Calgary, with Mark Scheifele leading the way (13 of 17 for 76.5%). The only center who didn’t do well at the dot was Vladislav Namestnikov (1 of 4 for 25%), but that one win played a big role in the Tyler Toffoli powerplay marker.
- I really don’t like what seems like panic moves in-game by Winnipeg’s coaching staff. The team starts off a bit uninspired and Rick Bowness quickly reverts to the tried & true units, even though history & stats show that some of them don’t work well. He seemed to realize his mistake and did change back to the original starting lines, but it isn’t a great look. Here is how the Jets’ lines did last night in terms of expected goals percentage: Connor/Monahan/Perfetti (87.8%), Ehlers/Scheifele/Vilardi (82.2%), Appleton/Lowry/Toffoli (77.6%), Iafallo/Barron/Namestnikov (65%), Connor/Scheifele/Vilardi (35.4%), & Ehlers/Monahan/Perfetti (12.3%).
- Finally, figured that I would share the Jets’ expected goals for each player via MoneyPuck’s graphic:
The Winnipeg Jets will start prepping to start their final road trip of the regular season, with 4 games away from home starting up on Saturday (all against Central Division opponents). With Nino Niederreiter already on the shelf for a week, it will be interesting to see if either Josh Morrissey or Adam Lowry feel the effects of cheap shots by Calgary players (what else are we to expect from the Flames?).
NEXT GAME: Winnipeg Jets @ Minnesota Wild – Saturday, April 6th @ 3:00 pm Central
After the game in Minnesota, the Jets will head to Nashville, Dallas, & Colorado before heading back to the Peg for their final two contests (SEA/VAN).
Looking for an easy way to support Arctic Ice Hockey Use our Affiliate Link when shopping hockey merch this hockey season!
