The Winnipeg Jets were on the cusp of setting a new NHL record as they entered Saturday’s contest against the Dallas Stars just one victory away from having the best start to a season in NHL history!! In their way was their long-time Central Division rivals, who I am sure will want to avoid being on the wrong side of the record book. So lets find out how things played out….
The starting goaltenders for the contest included both goalies fighting for the starting spot for the US squad at the upcoming Four Nations tournament, so both the Jets’ Connor Hellebuyck and the Stars’ Jake Oettinger would want to be at their best when the puck dropped at the Canada Life Centre.
GAME RECAP
When the game got underway, it was the Dallas Stars that shot out of the starting gate as they forced Winnipeg to defend right off the bat. This led to an early powerplay chance for the visitors, but they ended up taking a minor of their own to nullify the man-advantage. After that, the Jets picked their pace and they started to test the Stars’ goalie on their first full PP of the match. Multiple looks with the extra skater included Alex Iafallo almost beating Jake Oettinger from the left face-off dot, but Winnipeg kept up the attack and shortly after Vladislav Namestnikov found Iafallo uncovered in the slot to help the Jets to a 1-0 lead. Not long after, Rasmus Kupari was forechecking hard and that caused Dallas’ Matt Dumba to turn the puck over at his own blueline. The Jets’ Iafallo immediately rifled a shot on net, resulting in a juicy rebound that allowed Kupari to net his 2nd of the season. After killing off another Stars’ powerplay, Winnipeg almost added to their lead when Kupari raced to an open puck for a breakaway while holding off a Dallas’ back-checker…unfortunately his top shelf shot attempt had too much lift and narrowly missed extending the home squad’s lead.
Dallas came out with back-to-back offensive zone shifts, but Winnipeg quickly went back on the attack and it paid off when Namestnikov attempted a wrap around. While the Stars’ tender made the initial save, Vladdy saw the puck under his glove and dove to poke it beyond the goal line to give the True Northers a 3-0 lead. The opponent’s meathead captain, Jamie Benn, lost his cool and gave Kupari a forearm blow to the back of the head, sending Winnipeg to its’ 3rd man-advantage of the contest. Some nice passing by the Jets’ top PP unit saw a tic-tac-toe play that ended with Nikolaj Ehlers one-timing a beauty by Oettinger to make it 4-0. That resulted in the visiting team going for a goalie swap, as Oettinger left the ice to the jeers of the Winnipeg fanbase saying “US backup“.
The final frame saw the Jets relax a bit as they allowed Dallas to outshoot them 19 to 5 and tilt the ice towards Hellebuyck’s net. The officials were heavily involved in the 3rd, giving both franchises a couple more powerplay opportunities as the game got a bit chippy due to the frustrated Stars. The prime example of this is Benn doing his 2nd goon play of the game when he cheap shots Cole Perfetti with a cross-check to the back. Winnipeg captain Adam Lowry was having none of that and the Recap’s cover photo shows part of his response. With some more great tending by Bucky, the Jets came oh so close to a 3rd straight shutout, however a dumb penalty by Logan Stanley gave Dallas the opportunity they needed to break the goose egg. While the home team managed to allow no goals on the kill, the visitors did capitalize when a deflected point shot slipped through Hellebuyck’s legs just after Big Stan was out of the box.
FINAL SCORE: Winnipeg 4 Dallas 1
FINAL STATS
Shots: 34-25 DAL / Hits: 14-14 TIE / Face-Offs: 53.8% DAL / x Goals: 4.20 WPG – 2.25 DAL /
MoneyPuck’s Deserve to Win: 77.5% WPG / High Danger Scoring Chances: 18 to 18 TIE
SCORING SUMMARY from ESPN
SHOT CHARTS from MoneyPuck & Natural Stat Trick
ADVANCED STATS from MoneyPuck & Natural Stat Trick
ADVANCED STATS for Line Combos/Goalie from MoneyPuck
If you would like to dive deeper into the game’s stats, follow the links below to the game pages:
MoneyPuck: Dallas Stars vs. Winnipeg Jets – Saturday November 9 2024 – MoneyPuck.com
NaturalStatTrick: Dallas Stars @ Winnipeg Jets, 2024-11-09
BOJA’s Observations:
- Well, the Winnipeg Jets officially hold the record for the hottest start to a campaign in NHL history!! Congrats boys on some quality and entertaining hockey!!
- A great game by 4th liner Alex Iafallo against the Stars. His goal & assist in the contest tied him for Winnipeg’s leading point getter with Vladislav Namestnikov (G/A) and Cole Perfetti (two A).
- The final game stats were greatly impacted by the Jets going into a defensive shell for the 3rd period. The home squad only managed 5 shots in the final frame….and only ONE in the final 10 minutes of game action. While the rest of the game was as dominating as Winnipeg could be, there is no reason to completely take their foot off the gas pedal when they have a comfortable lead.
- That late prevent defense stopped Connor Hellebuyck from getting his 3rd straight shutout, but the Vezina candidate did set a record for the longest goalless period in franchise history, erasing Ondrej Pavalec’s name from the Winnipeg Jets’ record book.
A pretty good day for the city of Winnipeg, as the Jets set NHL history by beating a hated rival and the Blue Bombers routed the Saskatchewan Roughriders to make their 5th straight Grey Cup appearance.
The Winnipeg Jets will get a couple days of rest before they head out on an important road trip. Enjoy the long weekend everyone and please try to find some time to remember the sacrifices the members of the Canadian Armed Forces (both past & present) have made to give us the quality of life that we have in this country.
UP NEXT: Winnipeg Jets (14-1-0) @ New York Rangers (9-3-1) – Tuesday, November 12th @ 6:00 pm CST
