In a game of backup goaltenders, Winnipeg’s Brossoit was going head-to-head against Detroit’s Reimer last night….let’s see who could pick up the ‘W”.
When the puck dropped at Canada Life Centre to open up the 1st period, Winnipeg fans officially got to witness two Jets starting their 100th NHL games (Perfetti & Gustafsson). The teams opened up tentatively with a lot of back & forth play resulting in low quality looks or nothing at all. Detroit had some early shifts where they pinned Winnipeg in their own end, but the Jets’ defenders ensured the shots were from the perimeter. The home team also had a couple of chances, Namestnikov set up Iafallo for a 1 timer in the slot and a Winnipeg 2 on 2 turned into an odd man rush when Lowry joined in, getting stoned from the mid-slot by Reimer. Despite the Jets chasing the game a bit in the first 10 minutes (shots 4 to 2 for the Wings), good defense and goaltending kept the game scoreless. A nice stick check by Perfetti broke up a prime scoring chance on a rebound and Brossoit denied Strome from the low slot. The Gustafsson line finally ended the Red Wings dominance and created a couple high-danger looks when Barron was stopped from the slot and Gus couldn’t bury the rebound. The Jets’ top unit followed that up with a rush by Ehlers that saw him pass off to Morrissey at the point after gaining the Wings’ zone. Detroit’s defensemen did a great job of boxing the Winnipeg players hunting for the rebound and they briefly were able to end the pressure. After the Namestnikov trio had a cycle shift, the Jets were sprung on another break when a lovely long bank pass by Pionk connected with Jonsson-Fjallby. AJF’s shot was turned aside by Reimer, but the 4th line continued the cycle, working the puck back to the point. Pionk let a shot go while Barron was driving to the net with Petry in tow. The Jet player swiped his stick at the puck, but the refs decided it deflected off of Petry before bouncing by a surprised Reimer to give Winnipeg the lead. The top 6 followed up with more pressure and Scheifele almost added to the lead when he danced into the low slot and made a move to the forehand, but the Manitoban-born Reimer wasn’t fooled. Detroit almost leveled things when Brossoit got caught out of position, however a great scramble saw him get back in net to shut down an exasperated Larkin.
First Period Stats: Score: 1 to 0 for the Jets, shots 11 to 10 for the Jets, 61.7% Deserve To Win for the Red Wings, Expected Goals – all situations (1.10-0.63 DET), & 5 on 5 (1.10-0.63 DET)
Winnipeg had a glorious opportunity when they stopped a Detroit rush at their own blueline, turning it back the other way for a 2 on 1. Iafallo’s pass across was a bit too late and Namestnikov couldn’t get the puck up and over the goaltender’s pads. Shortly after, a harmless looking 3 on 3 became more deadly when Maatta joined in. The defenseman received the pass and as Lowry reacted to cover him, he ended up providing a perfect screen on Brossoit that resulted in the Wings tying things up. The Jets stepped up their play at this point, dominating puck possession and were eventually rewarded. The Scheifele line almost scored when Vilardi narrowly deflected a DeMelo shot just wide. Gabe gathered the puck up behind the net and while being pressured by the defender, he flipped a pass to the short-side and found Ehlers for a quick shot. The puck caught Reimer coming across the crease and it deflected off the inner post to find top corner twine. That goal didn’t only give Winnipeg their lead back, but it also saw both Ehlers & Vilardi extend their point streaks. Detroit spent some time pushing back and a long offensive zone shift saw them limited to a couple missed nets. Another beautiful pass by Winnipeg when Samberg banked a pass from his own end to catch AJF streaking at full speed. The winger picked it up while skating full speed backwards and then was in all alone on Reimer. Instead of opting for a deke, Jonsson-Fjallby went for a shot that beat the Wings’ tender glove side, giving the Jets a 3 to 1 lead and netting his 1st goal of the season. The Red Wings tried to respond and did create some looks, but Brossoit robbed DeBrincat from the mid-slot and a Veleno shot rang off the iron. The Scheifele line tilted the ice again with a cycle shift that saw Vilardi release a crazy bad angle backhand shot that rocketed off Reimer’s shoulder. Winnipeg recovered the rebound and the biscuit worked its way to the left face-off dot, allowing Perfetti to look off the defenders before sending a cross-ice pass to a uncovered Vilardi. A tap in goal by the hot winger gave the Jets a 4 to 1 lead going into the 2nd intermission and Winnipeg is 12-0-0 when scoring 4 goals this season.
After Two Periods Stats Score: 4 to 1 for the Jets, shots 30 to 18 for the Jets, 53.7% Deserve to Win for the Red Wings, Expected Goals – all situations (1.97-1.75 DET) & 5 on 5 (1.97-1.75 DET)
Since I’m running out of time, I’ll make the 3rd period recap a bit briefer than the norm. The officials decided that it was their job to do their best to help Detroit out, ignoring some obvious penalties (Ehlers hauled down) and giving the Wings a couple questionable powerplays. The Jets were actually able to stop the opponent’s from scoring with the man-advantage, but did give up another goal when a Kane rush saw a rebound go straight to Larkin. Winnipeg added one final goal and it was a beauty. Ehlers was fighting two Wings along the back boards and stepped on the puck. He kicked it out of the scrum to a waiting Vilardi, who quickly slipped it across the crease to a wide open Scheifele. The center’s 12th of the season sealed the game, though Perfetti and Lowry both had chances to add to the goal column before the final horn.
FINAL SCORE: WINNIPEG JETS 5 DETROIT RED WINGS 2
SHOTS: WINNIPEG JETS 41 DETROIT RED WINGS 28
Game Observations:
- MoneyPuck Stats: 52.3% Deserve to Win for the Red Wings, 2.48 to 2.20 in expected goals (all situations) for the Red Wings, and 2.39 to 2.20 in expected goals (5 on 5) for the Red Wings.
- What can I say about Gabe Vilardi? 11 pts (6G/5A) in his past six games, 10 pts in his past four games, and a goal & two assists against Detroit last night. #13 now has 13 pts in 13 games this year.
- Second straight game where Winnipeg’s 4th line played amazingly well. David Gustafsson, Morgan Barron, and Axel Jonsson-Fjallby were on the ice for 2 of the Jets’ 5 goals last night. AJF picked up his 1st goal of the season, as well as an assist, while Gustafsson also had a helper in the game.
- A very solid outing by Winnipeg’s top defensive pairing, with Josh Morrissey and Dylan DeMelo playing over 24 minutes and ending the night with a +3 rating.
- A much better game at the face-off dots, with the Jets winning 56.5% of draws versus the Wings. Scheifele led the way with 65%, but Gustafsson (58.3%) and Adam Lowry (61.1%) were also solid. Only Vladislav Namestnikov finished with less than 50%, but even his 45.5% was an improvement from his season average.
- Nik Ehlers led Winnipeg in shots (5) against Detroit but AJF and Cole Perfetti (4) were also in the conversation.
- In a game with a bunch of pretty passing plays for the Jets, it is hard to pick out a favourite. Vilardi’s pass from behind the net to find Ehlers on the back side for a goal, Perfetti freezing everyone before sliding a cross-ice pass to a wide open Vilardi, or Ehlers’ step on the puck and foot pass out of a scramble, that allowed Vilardi to set up a wide open Scheifele. The Samberg bank pass? Which one did you enjoy most?
The Winnipeg Jets are now 8-0-3 against the NHL’s Eastern Conference this year, but they will face a stiff test in their next game since the Boston Bruins have a 9-0-2 record versus the Western Conference. Something has to give on Friday….or will we see an OT/SO game to allow both franchises to avoid a regulation loss?
NEXT GAME: Boston Bruins @ Winnipeg Jets – Friday, December 22nd @ 7:00 pm Central
The Jets will be heading for the holiday break after Friday’s game but their AHL affiliate has more work to do before Santa comes, with matches versus the Iowa Wild on Friday and Saturday.
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Here’s the shot chart from MoneyPuck:
