After the long All-Star break concluded, the Winnipeg Jets were back in action against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday evening….let’s find out how the game played out.
After the puck dropped, it was obvious that the Penguins were more eager to get back to real NHL action, forcing Jets’ fans to watch Pittsburgh’s forecheck cause issues for Winnipeg’s defensemen. The Pens were the quicker team early and this paid off approximately 7 minutes in when their pressure caused a turnover when Lowry couldn’t hold onto a pass in the Jets end. Pitt’s defender Letang was there to jump on the chance and was allowed to skate in too close, before the veteran beat Hellebuyck with a nice backhand shot to give the Pens the lead. Despite Winnipeg continuing to make poor passing decisions and often failing to receive pucks cleanly, the Jets did have a bit of pushback (Scheifele deflection over net & Connor/Ehlers stopped on good looks). After being outshot 7 to 3 in the opening 15 minutes, the shots evened out in the final minutes and Winnipeg did create a couple more quality chances (great move by Scheifele at the blueline saw him try to cut across the crease but couldn’t finish & a 4th line cycle shift that saw Namestnikov stoned from the net front after being set up by Iafallo). The Pens also had some opportunities to add to their lead, but Bucky was there to keep the Jets down a goal (great save off Acciari when he batted a puck out of the air). Check out how MoneyPuck saw the 1st period stats & shots below.
First Period MoneyPuck Stats: Score: 1 to 0 for the Pens, shots 13 to 8 for the Pens, 63.5% Deserve To Win for the Pens, Expected Goals – all situations (1.32-0.98 PIT), & 5 on 5 (1.32-0.93 PIT)
Winnipeg started the 2nd frame a lot better and promptly had a couple looks to try to tie things up (Scheifele sets up Connor for 1 timer, but he sails it wide & Perfetti narrowly missing a net-side deflection). The game really changed about 4 minutes in, when the Jets received their only penalty of the game…but it was a doozy. Dillon got a bit over-aggressive with an open ice bodycheck and clearly made primary contact with Acciari’s head, sending the Pens’ forward to the dressing room for the rest of the game. After initially calling it a minor, a video review altered the opinion and the physical defenseman received a 5 minute major for the hit. Winnipeg did a great job for the first 3 minutes of the penalty kill, but that changed when a redirected point shot was blocked by DeMelo…only for the puck to pop out to the Penguins’ Carter, who held off Schmidt as he tucked it by a sprawling Hellebuyck. Things got worse just as the powerplay neared a conclusion when another lucky bounce saw the puck slide across the Jets’ crease and allow Rust to give the Pens a 3 to 0 lead. While the wind was definitely knocked out of Winnipeg’s sails, they did try to get back into the game in the second half of the period yet neither Scheifele nor Perfetti could solve Jarry. Pittsburgh’s goaltender did get flagged for holding up Vilardi, but the Jets powerplay continues to be unproductive (interesting that Bowness started the 2nd unit on both opportunities). Check out how MoneyPuck saw things after 2 frames….
After Two Periods MoneyPuck Stats: Score: 3 to 0 for the Pens, shots 21 to 18 for the Pens, 66.5% Deserve to Win for the Pens, Expected Goals – all situations (2.84-1.55 PIT) & 5 on 5 (1.55-1.31 WPG)
I have to admit that by this point I had put my note-taking pencil down and only picked it up when there was a really noteworthy event. About 6 minutes into the 3rd was when this first occurred, as an Appleton dump in around the boards was deftly won by Niederreiter. The Swiss winger picked up the puck and immediately spun a pass into the low slot, finding Lowry all alone for a failed 5 hole attempt. Winnipeg’s top line followed that up with an offensive zone shift and when Morrissey sticklifted a Penguin to steal the puck, he quickly passed it off to Scheifele for a 1 timer that finally saw a puck beat Jarry. But wait…the Penguins’ coaching staff challenges the play and the officials finally noticed that it was off-side & overturned the goal. Not a lot happened after this…..Bucky made a bunch of saves to keep his goals against at 3 and when Scheifele was tripped up, we got to witness another ineffective Jets’ PP. The best final chance for a Winnipeg goal came when Appleton deflected a Lowry pass from the low slot, but once again Jarry was there to make a big save.
After Three Periods MoneyPuck Stats: Score: 59.5% Deserve to Win for the Pens, Expected Goals – all situations (3.56-2.75 PIT) & 5 on 5 (2.21-2.03 WPG)
FINAL SCORE: PITTSBURGH PENGUINS 3 WINNIPEG JETS 0
SHOTS: PITTSBURGH PENGUINS 27 WINNIPEG JETS 23
Game Observations:
- The Winnipeg Jets have now been shut out in 3 of their past 7 games…..desperately in need of an offensive spark soon.
- While MoneyPuck’s 5 on 5 numbers look good (Jets up 2.21 to 2.03 in xGs), it was mainly because Pittsburgh laid off in the third period to protect their lead.
- Not many Jets had notable performances against the Penguins, but Mark Scheifele probably created the most offense in his first game back from injury.
- Brenden Dillon may be getting a call from the NHL’s Department of Player Safety for his hit in the 2nd period. While Dilly didn’t drive up to make head contact with Acciari, it was certainly the first place his shoulder hit. The physical defender hasn’t had a lot of issues with suspensions in the past, so who knows what the Magic 8 Ball the DoPS uses to decide suspensions will say.
- There seemed to be a lot of panic in the post-game comments from the fans, but I am still not certain that we should expect a replay of last season. Going into last night’s contest, Winnipeg’s 2nd and 4th lines had never played together this season, while the 1st has only had 4 games to familiarize themselves with each other. Only the almost-always present Lowry line has built up some chemistry to this point, so hopefully with more time the Jets’ offensive abilities will return. That being said, the next couple of games need to see some major improvements.
The Winnipeg Jets are now on their longest losing streak of the season and will be looking to correct things when they hit the ice again on Thursday.
NEXT GAME: Winnipeg Jets @ Philadelphia Flyers – Thursday, February 8th @ 6:00 pm Central
The Manitoba Moose are about to return from the AHL’s All-Star break, with Brad Lambert picking up a pair of goals & assists in the three “games” he played during the celebrations.
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