Blake Wheeler’s return to Winnipeg came in front of 11,989 people at the Canada Life Centre on Monday night. The long-time captain was treated well by the Jets’ faithful and got a bit teary-eyed when the franchise played a video tribute midway through the opening period.
The visiting New York Rangers had the glut of the early play in the 1st period, including a prime scoring chance on a clear-cut breakaway that Hellebuyck was able to turn aside. The Jets responded with a couple good shifts by the 2nd & 3rd lines, leading to Niederreiter & Ehlers testing New York’s Shesterkin. At the mid-point of the period, the Rangers were holding a 7 to 4 shot advantage, but Winnipeg pushed back with some more strong shifts by the 2nd & 3rd lines. Niederreiter had another glorious chance when he circled out front of the net and tried to find the goaltender’s five-hole. Ehlers and Perfetti combined for another chance when Fly’s pass to the youngster at the side of the net was deflected right across the front of the net. New York counter-punched with another breakaway on Hellebuyck and then with another strong shift with 2 minutes left. Former Jet Trouba made a really nice play when he passed/shot just wide of the net, allowing Panarin to make a sweet deflection into the top of the net. The Rangers’ 1-0 lead didn’t last long however, as Perfetti led a Winnipeg 3 on 2 up the ice. He gained the offensive zone, drawing the pair of defenders towards him before dishing it off to Gustafsson on the right wing. The still-young Swede continued to show a goal-scoring touch by beating former Vezina winner Shesterkin to tie the game up with 28 seconds to play.
First Period Stats: Score: 1 – 1 tie, shots 11 to 10 for the Rangers, 69% Deserve To Win for the Rangers, Expected Goals – all situations (1.06-0.43 NYR), & 5 on 5 (1.06-0.43 NYR)
The 3rd line spent a shift in the offensive zone to start the 2nd period, but Niederreiter got a bit over-zealous and took a penalty sending a hot NYR PP on the ice. The Rangers showed the Winnipeg fans what a good powerplay looks like by controlling the Jets’ zone for the entire time, forcing Hellebuyck to stone them on one chance before sending another 3 shots his way. New York has scored PP goals in 7 of their 8 games this year, but Winnipeg killed off their first chance of the game. The home team had a PP opportunity of their own, but did little with it. Fortunately the 2nd line followed up with 3 strong shifts and the Jets were able to start creating a bit more offense. Gustafsson had a look while skating with two 3rd liners, then Kupari forced the Rangers to take a penalty as he circled the offensive zone. The Jets ended up with more o-time with this man-advantage, but their shots were clearly seen by Shesterkin. The middle period ended with the game all knotted up, but Winnipeg was showing signs of life.
After Two Periods Stats Score: 1 to 1 tie , shots 20 to 19 for the Jets, 57.4% Deserve to Win for the Rangers, Expected Goals – all situations (1.29-0.98 NYR) & 5 on 5 (1.22-0.77 NYR)
The third period started off with both squads playing a very cautious game, limiting chances on either goalie. New York’s 3rd line finally got their best chance of the period when Hellebuyck had to deny a high-danger 1 timer. Shortly after, Winnipeg broke out on a 2 on 1 with Ehlers carrying the puck into the Rangers’ zone. Fly patiently waited for a passing lane before sending the puck to Perfetti, but the pass was a bit in his feet and the 1 timer went wide. Ehlers followed up and scooped up the rebound behind the goalline before skating behind the net and wrapping the puck in front to slip it between the goalie’s pads. Jets took the lead 5 minutes into the 3rd, but Lowry was forced to interfere with Zibanejad to stop a scoring opportunity. This NYR PP had constant pressure in the offensive zone, once again testing Hellebuyck on multiple occasions, but Winnipeg escaped with their lead in tact. Just after the mid-point of the period, Dillon stepped up to deliver a hit and was called for a somewhat questionable boarding call. Giving the Rangers a third PP chance ended up being too much for the Jets to deal with when a Trouba wrist shot (pass) from the slot was deftly deflected by big Kreider in front of the net to tie the game at 2-2. To give Winnipeg their due, they did really spend the last 8 minutes of the period looking for the winning goal, as the top 3 lines all tested Shesterkin. Appleton was flying along the boards in the o-zone and suddenly went down (replay showed no contact with Ranger, so another questionable penalty by the refs), sending the Jets to the PP with 18 seconds to play. With a powerplay as bad as Winnipeg’s, they would need more time than than to score, so we were off to overtime.
After Three Periods Stats Score: 2 to 2 tie , shots 25 to 24 for the Rangers, 56.7% Deserve to Win for the Rangers, Expected Goals – all situations (1.58-1.43 NYR) & 5 on 5 (1.43-1.21 NYR)
The Jets opened with a 4 on 3 advantage in the extra frame and the had quality looks early on when Iafallo shot grazed Shesterkin’s shoulder, then Connor was turned away on a 1 timer. Winnipeg had a couple more quality chances before the PP expired, but it was back to 3 on 3 for the remainder of OT. New York started to carry the play for a bit, forcing the Jets onto the defensive. As time dwindled away, Panarin led a rush by skating the puck into the Winnipeg zone, before dishing off to Zibanejad. He released a quick 1 timer that caught Hellebuyck coming across the crease & dropping into the butterfly. Unfortunately for the Jets and their fans, the biscuit found the dreaded 5 hole to give the Rangers the overtime victory. A historic win as it turns out, marking the first time in New York’s existence that they went 5 for 5 on a Western road trip.
FINAL SCORE: NEW YORK RANGERS 3 WINNIPEG JETS 2 (OT)
SHOTS: WINNIPEG JETS 29 NEW YORK RANGERS 26
Game Observations:
- Probably the best game of the season for Cole Perfetti, as he ended up with 3 shots and 2 assists. Nik Ehlers and Kyle Connor led the Winnipeg Jets in shots tonight.
- Perfetti and Vladislav Namestnikov were the leaders in plus/minus (+2), along with the 1st defensive pairing of Josh Morrissey & Dylan DeMelo.
- The 2nd d-pairing of Neal Pionk & Brendan Dillon had a poor night and were on the ice for all the even strength goals against. Kyle Connor & Mark Scheifele also ended up on the wrong side of the plus/minus battle, finishing with a -2 rating.
- David Gustafsson scores his 2nd of the year!! Liking his game lately and he should be getting closer to 10 minutes per game as a 4th liner. Rasmus Kupari was limited to 6:24 last night for some reason…he was 1 for 5 on face-offs, but can’t see that being why.
- The powerplay went 0 for 3 and could have sealed a victory if they had found a way to light the red lamp just once. No movement, no traffic, no surprises, no goals. Might be the motto of this year’s man-advantage unit.
- The PK is almost as worrisome, though they did do a decent job tonight against a dangerous PP team.
- Another solid game by the 3rd line of Adam Lowry, Mason Appleton, & Nino Niederreiter, though the captain had a couple hiccups that led to breakaways for the Rangers.
- MoneyPuck Stats: 50.6% Deserve to Win for the Jets, 2.54 to 2.4 in expected goals (all situations) for the Jets, and 1.33 to 1.21 in expected goals (5 on 5) for the Rangers.
NEXT GAME: Winnipeg Jets @ Vegas Golden Knights – Thursday, November 2nd @ 9 pm Central
