The Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg featured a clash between the visiting Minnesota Wild and our hometown Jets, so let’s see how things played out.
The Winnipeg Jets started off strong when the Lowry line immediately went on the attack and almost pocketed one when Appleton set up a pinching Dillon on the doorstep, only for the Wild’s Fleury to turn the chance aside. Play evened out for the next bit with minor scoring chances both ways, but the Jets had a great chance to take a lead when former Jet Chisholm got nabbed for hooking Niederreiter. Winnipeg’s PP units spent the majority of the time in the offensive zone and as the man-advantage was nearing an end, a Connor 1 timer deflected off Vilardi’s skate and by the Minnesota goalie. Bowness tapped the Lowry line to follow things up and they dumped the puck into the Wild zone. A good forecheck by Niederreiter freed up the puck for Lowry behind the net and he found Appleton in the right face-off circle with a pass. The Jets’ winger sniped a shot over Fleury’s shoulder from a bad angle and Winnipeg had a 2-0 lead with two goals in 14 seconds. Minnesota began to pick up their game and Brossoit was called on to make a few nice saves to keep the game scoreless, but neither squad could solve the tenders in the remainder of the period. The MoneyPuck shot chart below shows how the Jets were getting shots from prime spots in the 1st frame.
First Period MoneyPuck Stats: Score: 2 to 0 for the Jets, shots 11 to 9 for the Wild, 64% Deserve To Win for the Jets, Expected Goals – all situations (1.44-0.76 WPG), & 5 on 5 (0.73-0.70 MIN)
Minnesota had a fabulous chance to get their first goal early in the 2nd, but DeMelo slid along the ice to block a pass to the net front that surely would have resulted in a goal. But that led to a counter by Winnipeg as Vilardi raced up the right wing to gain the Wild zone. Scheifele drove to the net, drawing the defender with him, as Connor slipped into the high slot to receive a pass. The American sniper used a quick snap shot to cleanly beat Fleury and give the Jets a 3-0 lead just 2 minutes into the middle frame. Minnesota was determined not to go quietly into the night and started to press for offense. As a result, the Jets had some chances on counters (Perfetti steals puck in d zone to get a prime look and Scheifele had a failed breakaway), but it was the Wild who really started to test Brossoit. Winnipeg’s backup was up to the task until he was finally beat on the 2nd straight shot by Rossi on a Minny PP. The Bross-Wall stood tall for the remainder of the period, including stoning Rossi on a clear cut breakaway (after a horrible turnover by Connor). The Jets had a comfortable lead going into the intermission, but MoneyPuck’s shot chart shows the increased offense from the Wild in the 2nd.
After Two Periods MoneyPuck Stats: Score: 3 to 1 for the Jets, shots 28 to 14 for the Wild, 56.5% Deserve to Win for the Wild, Expected Goals – all situations (2.12-1.91 MIN) & 5 on 5 (1.61-1.19 MIN)
Winnipeg had a great chance early in the 3rd when Lowry was stopped on a rush, but in the subsequent cycle Minnesota picked up a high-sticking penalty. The Jets had plenty of offensive zone time, but couldn’t get anything done with the man-advantage before the teams returned to even strength. While the Wild controlled the puck more in the final frame, the Jets did have plenty of looks to add to their lead (shot off offensive zone face-off, Lowry couldn’t capitalize on a huge rebound chance, and an Apples’ deflection failing to beat Fleury). Minnesota goes down a man when Scheifele helps the officials make a holding the stick penalty on Hartman and once again Winnipeg’s powerplay went to work. This time Vilardi makes a tremendous deflection on a Morrissey shot that was a foot wide of the net, giving the Jets a 4-1 lead with just over a half period remaining. After Brossoit stopped a deflection from Eriksson Ek, the Peggers had some o-zone time of their own. Monahan was battling in the high slot for position and did a great job to get a stick on a point shot, giving the Jets a 5-1 lead with 9 & a half minutes on the clock. Minnesota didn’t cave and ended up adding a PP goal (Kaprizov) and another goal for Rossi to make things interesting. The Wild pulled their goalie with over 3 minutes to play, but the move immediately back-fired as Lowry pounced on a loose puck and sent El Nino on a breakaway to seal the game. MoneyPuck’s shot chart shows that both franchises had their scoring chances in the final frame.
After Three Periods MoneyPuck Stats: 65% Deserve to Win for the Wild, Expected Goals – all situations (3.93-3.89 MIN) & 5 on 5 (2.80-1.95 MIN)
FINAL SCORE: WINNIPEG JETS 6 MINNESOTA WILD 3
SHOTS: MINNESOTA WILD 38 WINNIPEG JETS 28
Game Observations:
- A fantastic bounce-back game for Laurent Brossoit, despite the three goals against. A .923 save percentage and 0.94 Goals Saved Above Average on 39 shots. It’s great to have both tenders playing so well this season.
- The Winnipeg Jets are now 5-0 in the second half of back-to-back game situations and have swept the Minnesota Wild 3-0 in 2023-24.
- Gabriel Vilardi is on fire lately….picking up 8 pts in his past few games, including two goals and an assist versus the Wild. With only 0.74 expected goals in the game, the right winger was making the best out of the chances he got.
- The recently acquired Sean Monahan is finding his feet with the Jets as he continues to chip in offensively (5 goals in past 3 games). Both he and Vilardi had pretty deflections on Marc Andre Fleury last night.
- Despite not playing very well, Kyle Connor picked up 3 points (goal/2 assists), including his 20th goal of the year (7th time he has hit that mark).
- A monster night for the 3rd line of Adam Lowry, Nino Niederreiter, and Mason Appleton. The only Winnipeg line to regularly control the puck at even strength (74.5% of xG), the trio combined for 5 pts against the Wild. The captain & Nino were in the top 3 in expected goals for Jets’ forwards (.561 & 1.019 xG respectively).
- Another player who had a bounce back game was Neal Pionk, who was down-right awful against Calgary. The American defender led Winnipeg in hits with 5, while fellow Yank Dylan Samberg was next with 4.
- Mark Scheifele was held without a point last night, but I really appreciated his 2-way effort. Hopefully the days of a floating #55 are behind us for good.
A much better outing for Winnipeg, with improved intensity and gaps, but there is still work to do at even strength. The powerplay seems to have found their mojo, so it’s imperative that the Jets return to being difficult to score on at 5 on 5 before the playoffs get here.
NEXT GAME: Winnipeg Jets @ Chicago Blackhawks – Friday, February 23rd @ 7:30 pm Central
Connor Bedard is back playing for the Hawks….will Winnipeg continue to allow him to light lamps against them on Friday?
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