Because Finland was having a celebration of the sport of hockey, the Winnipeg Jets and Carolina Hurricanes got the privilege of starting a game at 11:30 am CST. Let’s find out if the early start impacted how the Jets played….
While there was certainly no doubting that the Hurricanes controlled the puck more often than the Jets in the 1st period, Winnipeg did a pretty good job keeping the shot attempts away from Hellebuyck’s crease. With the assistance of a 2 to 1 powerplay advantage and a tenacious forecheck, Carolina ended the period with 4 medium danger shots on net (2 better than Winnipeg). The Jets did get a couple opportunities such as Appleton almost connecting with Niederreiter in the goal crease and Iafallo getting a glorious chance on a rebound. When the horn sounded, neither Bucky nor Kochetkov could be solved. MoneyPuck’s shot chart clearly shows the Canes were the better team in the opening frame, but they didn’t get any chances from in tight so the Jets’ defense was holding.
First Period MoneyPuck Stats: Score: 0 to 0 tie, shots 12 to 10 for the Hurricanes, 66% Deserve To Win for the Hurricanes, Expected Goals – all situations (1.14-0.67 CAR), & 5 on 5 (0.81-0.45 CAR)
The middle period opened up with more tight checking hockey from both franchises, although Winnipeg had a great look to open up the scoring (flip pass from Pionk sends Barron in alone but he got pokechecked by the tender before he could pocket it). The Jets then got the game’s first powerplay, but could only manage one shot on net with the extra skater. With the teams back to even strength, a 4th line forecheck created a point shot by Samberg, but Carolina turned the save into a quick counter-attack that resulted on a 2 on 1. Necas carried the puck up the ice and opted to shoot, beating Hellebuyck cleanly under his glove arm from the left face-off circle. Our squad got just the thing to get back into the game, back to back PPs, but they wasted the gift from the hockey gods. In a similar play to the opening goal, Ehlers blasts a shot off the crossbar, only for the Hurricanes to race the other way . After out-muscling Monahan at the blueline, the Canes had another 2 on 1 and this time it was Teravainen who sniped a shot by Bucky. With Samberg in the box for interference and the seconds ticking away on the period, Carolina added a PP goal from Aho and things looked bleak. The shot chart tells us Winnipeg did get some scoring chances, but the Hurricanes were much better at capitalizing on their chances.
After Two Periods MoneyPuck Stats: Score: 3 to 0 for the Hurricanes, shots 25 to 20 for the Hurricanes, 64% Deserve to Win for the Hurricanes, Expected Goals – all situations (1.92-1.15 CAR) & 5 on 5 (1.36-0.80 CAR)
For the sake of honesty, I was discouraged by the 2nd period and went off to make lunch while recording the rest of the game. So I was certainly shocked to see how things played out…let’s get to it. After the Lowry line had a long cycle shift in Carolina’s end, the Jets’ top line jumped on the ice and were finally able to solve Kochetkov when Ehlers sets up Connor for a long 1 timer. With the game 3 to 1 minutes into the 3rd, Winnipeg continued to tilt the ice and it wasn’t long before Schmidt raced up the right wing to go back on the attack. The American defender found Niederreiter driving to the net and the Swiss winger was able to deflect the puck by the Canes’ goaltender to make the game even tighter. Monahan ended up getting clipped by Bunting’s stick a couple minutes later, allowing Winnipeg’s PP unit to jump back on the ice. After failing on the first 4 attempts with the extra skater, the Jets had a couple great chances on this one, including Scheifele getting a PPG with a sweet forehand-backhand move. With 16 minutes left in the period, the flow of play evened out with the assistance of Carolina’s 4th PP of the afternoon. Hellebuyck may not have been on his “A” game on Saturday, but he reminded me of the Edmonton Oilers’ Grant Fuhr as he absolutely slammed the door shut after allowing 3 to get by him. Eventually playing the Bowness system paid off again when Kochetkov tried to out-race Namestnikov to a loose puck 6 feet in front of his net. The goalie won the race, but his pokecheck just sent the puck to an uncovered Monahan for a clear shot on the empty net. Winnipeg had to withstand over 2 minutes of 6 on 5 hockey when the Canes pulled their tender and Bucky absolutely stoned Teravainen on a couple net-side chances (also nice block by Nino to stop another opportunity). The Jets were able to add an empty netter when Pionk did his best quarterback impression and hit Niederreiter on the fly with a flip pass. As MoneyPuck’s shot chart shows, the Hurricanes were able to add some “dots” to their total, but it’s also easy to see that Winnipeg got to the dirty areas in the 3rd.
After Three Periods MoneyPuck Stats: 55% Deserve to Win for the Hurricanes, Expected Goals – all situations (3.10-3.00 WPG) & 5 on 5 (2.35-1.58 CAR)
FINAL SCORE: WINNIPEG JETS 5 CAROLINA HURRICANES 3
SHOTS: CAROLINA HURRICANES 36 WINNIPEG JETS 33
Game Observations:
- As I said about Connor Hellebuyck in the article, while he was only an “average” goalie statistically against the Canes (3 expected goals & 3 allowed goals), Winnipeg’s starter made some huge saves to keep the game 3-0 and he did end up with a .914 save percentage.
- Josh Morrissey is putting up points at an unheard of pace lately…the defender has 14 in the Jets’ last 6 matches.
- Nice to see Nino Niederreiter get a pair of goals against a former team. The 3rd line definitely needed the offensive spark.
- While Alex Iafallo wasn’t hugely rewarded on the scoresheet (1 assist), I thought he played a great game. The winger was heavily involved on the forecheck and also made a few key defensive plays.
Well, I can say that Sean Monahan & Mark Scheifele don’t read my articles…because neither of them took my advice to shoot more often against Carolina. Mony scored a goal on 1 of his 2 shots on net, while Schief netted his only attempt.
NEXT GAME: Winnipeg Jets @ Buffalo Sabres – Sunday, March 3rd @ 6:00 pm Central
Both the Jets and Sabres are in back-to-back situations on Sunday, with Buffalo coming off an impressive 7-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights.
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