The Winnipeg Jets were trying to extend their winning streak when the faced off versus the Nashville Predators on a snowy Thursday evening, so let’s find out how things played out.
Coach Arniel opted to start off with the Namestnikov line and they rewarded the decision by spending the entire shift in Nashville’s zone, cycling the puck. The Predators responded with a rush chance that the Jets’ Brossoit was able to turn aside. Winnipeg’s 4th line created a good look when both Kupari & Gustafsson almost banged the puck in from just in front of Nashville’s Saros. Shortly after, the Lowry line hopped over the boards and rushed up the ice with Niederreiter in control of the puck. The Swiss forward cut to the middle of the ice after gaining the Preds’ zone, before making a pass between his legs to Appleton on the wing. Lowry was driving hard to the net when Apples threw a pass towards him, but it ultimately deflected off a Nashville defender and by the goalie to give the Jets an early 1-0 lead. Winnipeg followed things up with some quality shifts by the Namestnikov & Gustafsson lines, but it was the Predators that found the next goal when Forsberg dangled on a 3 on 2 rush before firing it by Brossoit from the slot. The two squads traded chances for a while before Lowry clobbered a Predator with a clean bodycheck, leading to his second scrap of the opening period. The Jets ended up with a powerplay as a result and while they did control the puck to create scoring chances, they were unable to solve the Preds’ Saros with the man-advantage. The period ended with another strong shift by the 4th line, as they forechecked & cycled the puck to set up Kupari for a chance right in front of the net.
First Period Stats: Score: 1 – 1 tie, shots 15 to 7 for the Jets, 52.7% Deserve To Win for the Jets, Expected Goals – all situations (0.69-0.57 WPG), & 5 on 5 (0.50-0.42 NSH)
It was Nashville who came out flying in the 2nd and they tested Brossoit a couple of times on the opening shift. The Jets’ coach sent the Scheifele line out to respond and they immediately gained the Predators’ zone. After cycling the puck around the exterior for a bit, the puck ended up with Scheifele behind the net. The newly re-signed center continued to display his set up abilities when he found Connor sneaking into the slot for a 1-timer that allowed the Jets to retake the lead just a minute into the 2nd. Winnipeg continued to push with an offensive zone shift by the 4th line, then followed that up with more pressure by the top trio. This time, Scheifele hit Connor in stride with a pass at the Nashville blueline, allowing KFC to weave his way through a couple of defenders before patiently slipping the puck through the smallest gap to beat Saros for his second of the game. The Jets continued to play well for their hometown fans and after a strong forecheck forced Nashville to shoot the puck over the glass, they went on their 2nd powerplay of the evening. The 2nd PP unit started things out and had a nice opportunity when Schmidt almost found Niederreiter for a net-front deflection. The other PP group came on the ice and Scheifele drew an interference call as he was rushing up the ice. Winnipeg took advantage of the brief 5 on 3 situation when Scheifele fired a long-range shot that created a rebound that Perfetti easily fired home. After the rest of the powerplay was killed off by a Winnipeg too many men infraction, Nashville responded when Forsberg took advantage of a short 4 on 4 period to rifle a shot by Brossoit. The Jets were able to keep the Preds off the scoreboard on the PK, but immediately found themselves short-handed again when, to coach Arniel’s dismay, they were caught with too many players again. The PKers were up to the task of killing back-to-back man-advantages and Winnipeg took a two goal lead to the dressing rooms.
After Two Periods Stats Score: 4 to 2 for the Jets, shots 28 to 15 for the Jets, 56.7% Deserve to Win for the Jets, Expected Goals – all situations (1.55-1.33 WPG) & 5 on 5 (1.07-0.73 WPG)
Not a whole lot happened early in the 3rd period, as the teams spent most of the time in the neutral zone and few quality chances were created. The refs did the typical NHL game management thing as they blindly ignored any infractions from the losing Predators while doing their best to imagine penalties that they could lay at the feet of a Jets’ player. However, the maligned PK units were on their game and were able to deny all three 3rd period opportunities. Nashville was able to pull within two goals with just under 4 minutes to play, but when they attempted the early goalie pull, Kyle Connor was able to seal the game and his hat-trick with an empty netter to give the Jets a win to open their homestand.
FINAL SCORE: WINNIPEG JETS 6 NASHVILLE PREDATORS 3
SHOTS: WINNIPEG JETS 37 NASHVILLE PREDATORS 23
Game Observations:
- Last night’s victory versus the Predators now improves the Jets’ record against Central Division rivals to 4-0 and now Winnipeg is sitting 1 point behind division leaders Dallas & Colorado.
- Laurent Brossoit earned his 1st win of the season, but looked pretty shaky throughout the game and seemed a bit out of position on Forsberg’s 2nd goal. Hopefully he turns things around, as a rested Connor Hellebuyck will pay dividends later in the season.
- Another great game by Mark Scheifele and it makes me so happy to be able write that. So far, the talented offensive player has displayed a full effort in all parts of the ice and he is being rewarded for it. Tonight’s 4 assists upped his point total to 16 pts, to tie him for the team lead with Kyle Connor. Connor’s trick has given him 11 goals in the opening 13 games and he really looked like his old self against the Predators.
- Cole Perfetti has now scored in back-to-back games and is up to 10 pts on the season, to tie him with Mason Appleton, Nino Niederreter, and Josh Morrissey.
- On Nashville’s first goal, a defensive error created a 2 on 1 that was made worse by Nate Schmidt’s decision to sprawl on the ice to attempt to block a passing lane. However, that just allowed Filip Forsberg to out-wait the defenseman on the ice before getting a prime scoring chance from the middle slot. Despite the current winning-streak, it is time to give Declan Chisholm a game with the Jets to see what he can do.
- While Winnipeg’s special team numbers aren’t great yet, they are tracking in the right direction the past couple games. Currently, the PP is firing at 18.4% which is good enough for 17th in the NHL. The PK units have improved to 73.3% with a perfect evening (5 attempts), which is the 7th worst rate in the league.
- MoneyPuck Stats: 60.6% Deserve to Win for the Jets, 2.42 to 2.03 in expected goals (all situations) for the Jets, and 1.48 to 1.22 in expected goals (5 on 5) for the Jets.
Great start to a homestand, but the Winnipeg Jets could be in for a real test with the Dallas Stars coming to town on the weekend. Will be great to see if our team can keep their high-level of play (and offense) against a quality opponent.
NEXT GAME: Dallas Stars @ Winnipeg Jets – Saturday, November 11th @ 2 pm Central
Some prospect related news that might be of interest is that oft-injured Chaz Lucius has recovered from his concussion-concerns and will be back on the ice with the Manitoba Moose this weekend. Also, defenseman Dmitri Kuzmin was sent to the ECHL to get him some playing time and he was able to light the red lamp in his 2nd game with the Norfolk Admirals. The Moose may consider recalling the young left handed defender, as it appears that Moose captain Jimmy Oligny has sustained a long-term knee injury.
Use the comments section to let everyone hear how happy you are the Winnipeg Jets are on a three game winning streak (tied for the 2nd longest current winning streak with the Pittsburgh Penguins and trailing the Vancouver Canucks, who have wins in 5 straight games). Nice to see some Canadian teams doing well.
