The Winnipeg Jets were looking to lock up the Central Division title when they visited the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday evening. Lets find out if they were successful in their quest….
GAME RECAP
When the game kicked off, it was the Jets who had the puck on their sticks for long stretches of time, yet despite the possession advantage it was the Blackhawks who opened the scoring. When Connor Hellebuyck came out to play a puck in the face-off circle, his clearance attempt was knocked down and Nick Foligno was able to score into the empty net. CHI 1-0. Things got worse for the Winnipeggers when Jaret Anderson-Dolan was flagged for a questionable hold, allowing the Hawks to set up Connor Bedard for a 1 timer. CHI 2-0. Not done making mistakes, the True Northers’ top line turned the puck over at their own blueline, allowing Chicago defenseman Connor Murphy a clear cut breakaway. Fortunately, Bucky was up to the task and was able to keep the score the same, as the Jets entered the first intermission with a 8-4 shot advantage and a hole to get out of.
Winnipeg’s trend of giving up dangerous scoring chances continued into the early 2nd period, forcing Hellebuyck to make numerous top-notch saves to keep the score the same, including an incredible stop on a 2 on 0 breakaway where the tender slid across the crease at the last second to make a pad save. The Jets did have some looks to get on the scoreboard, with the best being Alex Iafallo getting robbed by Chicago’s Spencer Knight on a glorious rebound chance. After the Jets gave up another low slot scoring opportunity, Mason Appleton was hooked on a rush up the ice, sending the Peggers to their 2nd powerplay of the game. The top PP unit got a couple shots on the Hawks’ net, but also gave up a short-hand rush against before they swapped with the 2nd unit. They were able to get set up in Chicago’s end and with 1 second left in the advantage, Nino Niederreiter rifled a shot from the high left face-off circle to break the shutout (nice screen by Morgan Barron). CHI 2-1. Just when things were looking up for the Jets, Josh Morrissey bobbles a puck and forces Bucky to bail out his squad once again, then it got worse when Nikolaj Ehlers got tangled up with a linesman. With the image of the Dane limping to the dressing room still in their heads, Fly’s teammates were able to tie the game up when Iafallo intercepted a puck in the neutral zone and quickly sent Kyle Connor in on the goalie for his 41st marker of the year. TIE 2-2. The Jets pushed to take the lead late in the 2nd and Barron came real close when he got a great look from the top of the crease, only to be stoned by Knight once again.
Winnipeg looked like they took control of the game early in the 3rd when Morrissey sniped a shot with Niederreiter & Cole Perfetti providing a screen. WPG 3-2. Yet things fell apart in the second half of frame, starting with a long slap shot from Chicago’s Ryan Donato, TIE 3-3, and then rookie Frank Nazar was able to give the Hawks the lead on a 2 on 1 three minutes later. CHI 4-3. With six minutes to play, the Jets started to pressure for the tying goal and a prolonged cycle shift by Mark Scheifele’s line really put the pressure on the Blackhawks’ defense. Eventually, they were able to break through when Dylan DeMelo spotted a pinching Morrissey to set up the tying goal from the right face-off circle. TIE 4-4. Unable to decide things in regulation, the two franchises headed for overtime.
Both clubs had some chances in the extra frame, but the Jets probably got the best looks with missed opportunities by the likes of Adam Lowry and Niederreiter. Defender Morrissey made a key block on Chicago’s best change in OT and the teams had to use the shootout to decide who walked away with 2 points.
Hawks: Donato dekes and misses net with shot from low slot.
Jets: Scheifele sends a wrister off the outside of the post.
Hawks: Bedard came in slowly and picked Bucky’s 5 hole to give Chicago the edge.
Jets: Connor walks right in, slowly drifting from left to right across the slot before he calmly picked the top backside corner to knot up the SO.
Hawks: Teravainen attempted to make a cross-crease deke at the last second, waiting out Bucky as he stretched, but by the time he shot the puck sailed wide.
Jets: Perfetti got his first SO attempt of the season and he skated in before faking what appeared to be the Datsyuk move and drawing a pokecheck attempt by Knight, only to pull the puck back and shove it through the 5 hole (article’s main photo).
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FINAL SCORE: WINNIPEG JETS 5 CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS 4 (SO)
FINAL STATS
Shots: 41-32 WPG / Hits: 28-16 WPG / Face-Offs: 51.8% WPG / x Goals: 4.47 WPG – 3.31 CHI /
MoneyPuck’s Deserve to Win: 67.0% WPG / High-Medium Danger Scoring Chances: 15 to 14 CHI
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SCORING SUMMARY from ESPN
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SHOT CHART from MoneyPuck
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ADVANCED SKATER STATS from MoneyPuck
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GOALIE STATS from ESPN & MoneyPuck
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If you would like to dive deeper into the game’s stats, follow the links below to the game pages:
MoneyPuck: Winnipeg Jets vs. Chicago Blackhawks – Saturday April 12 2025 – MoneyPuck.com
NaturalStatTrick: Winnipeg Jets @ Chicago Blackhawks, 2025-04-12
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BOJA’s Observations:
- Nice game by Kyle Connor, pocketing his 41st goal & 96th point of the season while also scoring a lovely shootout goal. The sniper was also tied for 2nd on Winnipeg with 4 shots against Chicago as he flirts with the 100 point mark for the first time in his career.
- Another first liner, Alex Iafallo, was also noticeable on Saturday, as the veteran picked up an assist for his 30th point of the year. The “Jack of all trades” has filled in admirably for the injured Gabriel Vilardi and made some key plays last night (screens on a couple Winnipeg goals & a couple important blocks defensively).
- Other impressive Jets included Nino Niederreiter and Cole Perfetti, with El Nino notching goals in back to back contests and Fetti scoring a highlight reel goal in the shootout.
- Winnipeg won the hit battle once again and it was Jaret Anderson-Dolan (5) and Luke Schenn (4) leading the way in that category.
Congrats to the True Northers for becoming the Central Division champions……but no time for the Winnipeg Jets to rest on their laurels as they get right back at it tonight when they attempt to secure the President’s Trophy with a win over their western neighbours.
UP NEXT: Edmonton Oilers @ Winnipeg Jets – Sunday, April 13th @ 6:00 pm CST
