The Winnipeg Jets were coming out of the Christmas break and looking to continue their winning ways on the road in Chicago. The Blackhawks aren’t one of the better NHL teams this season, but they do have young phenom Connor Bedard to keep things interesting. Let’s see how the game played out…
Winnipeg started off the 1st period with the Lowry line and they almost beat Mrazek when Niederreiter flipped the puck towards the net from the neutral zone. The Chicago tender didn’t appear to be on the top of his game as he whiffed on the puck, allowing it to bang off the crossbar behind him. The Jets’ top 2 units kept up the pressure, with Ehlers getting stopped by a blocker and Schmidt letting a blast go from the point. A bit later, Schmidt had another chance with the 3rd line got him the puck, allowing him to walk right into prime slot territory before failing to beat Mrazek 5-hole. Namestnikov flew into the Hawks’ zone and almost connected with a linemate in front of the net, but despite missing that opportunity the line kept pushing and a nice give & go saw Morrissey send a mid-range shot towards the net. With Winnipeg leading the shot count by 7-0 after six minutes, they hit another post when Scheifele set up Morrissey for a 1-timer. The Jets didn’t score, but they did get the officials to give them the 1st powerplay of the match when Niederreiter was hooked. The 2nd PP unit started things out and while they were able to control the puck, they couldn’t get anything through to the Chicago tender. A careless stick by Namestnikov ended the PP a minute in, sending the teams into an uneventful period of 4 on 4. Morrissey blocked the best attempt on Chicago’s short powerplay and it ended early when one of the refs thought Appleton was tripped. After a very tiny 4 on 4 span, Winnipeg was back on the PP and once again the aggressive Hawks’ PK caused the Jets problems. The Blackhawks hadn’t had a shot on Hellebuyck with 6 minutes to play and the Jets continued to control play. A Dillon point shot resulted in a juicy rebound, but no Winnipeg player could capitalize. A Lowry/Appleton 2 on 1 saw the big center try and fail to beat Mrazek between the pads. The Hawks finally got a shot on Bucky with 5 minutes to play, but quickly followed up with 3 rapid shots by Bedard. Hellebuyck was able to save the initial low slot, as well as Bedard’s 1st rebound, but stopping the third attempt was too much for the American tender. Despite dominating play, Winnipeg found itself down a goal and went back on the attack. The 3rd and 4th lines created some looks when Lowry almost popped in a rebound and Barron was denied from the slot. A 3 on 2 for the Jets turned into a 4 on 2 when Pionk joined and was hit with a pass. The defender walked into prime slot territory before releasing a shot that unfortunately was deflected out of play. The Namestnikov line had some late pressure and Perfetti almost found himself alone in front of the goalie off a face-off scramble. A timely pokecheck by Mrazek didn’t allow the young winger to make a move and then he also shut down Iafallo on two shots from in tight.
First Period MoneyPuck Stats: Score: Score: 1 to 1 tie, shots 12 to 5 for the Jets, 72% Deserve to Win for the Jets, Expected Goals – all situations (1.50-0.62 WPG) & 5 on 5 (1.50-0.62 WPG)
The first 3 minutes of the 2nd period didn’t see any chances for either squad, but eventually Winnipeg went back on the attack. Another good shift by the 2nd line saw Perfetti get stoned on a rebound attempt and then Namestnikov splitting the defense for a breakaway. In all alone on Mrazek, Vlad had him beat but once again the iron was the Hawks’ friend as the puck hit the post and bounced away from trouble. The 4th line followed things up and Jonsson-Fjallby skated the puck through the neutral zone, before firing a cross-ice pass to hit a streaking Barron at the Hawks’ blueline. The winger had a step on the defenseman and that allowed him to skate right to the face-off dot before firing a low shot that squeaked through Mrazek’s 5 hole to tie the game up. The game settled down for the next 5 minutes, with the majority of play occurring in the neutral zone, but Winnipeg eventually went back on the attack when Scheifele set up Vilardi for a couple chances right in front of the goal. Chicago had a great scoring chance when Kurashev was sprung on a breakaway, but Hellebuyck was there to shut things down. Winnipeg continued to produce opportunities – Samberg to Ehlers that required a sprawling save to stop, Toninato rush that ended with a shot going wide of the net, and a Niederreiter slot attempt. A Blackhawk high-stick sent the Jets to a 3rd PP, but once again the team created very few looks with the extra attacker. Appleton and Lowry failed to connect on a 2 on 2 rush, but the captain was pushed into the goaltender and the officials saw it as goalie interference. With very little time remaining, the Hawks’ PP would have to wait until the 3rd period.
After Two Periods MoneyPuck Stats: Score: 1 to 1 tie, shots 27 to 12 for the Jets, 86.8% Deserve to Win for the Jets, Expected Goals – all situations (3.04-0.84 WPG) & 5 on 5 (3.04-0.84 WPG)
Winnipeg opened the period on the PK, but other than a Hellebucyk robbery on a Bedard to Kurashev connection, the Jets did a fine job killing the advantage. Scheifele’s lack of effort almost cost the Jets a goal against when he allowed Chicago’s Reichel to slip behind him, but the pass bounced off his stick to ruin the scoring chance. Play started to even out a bit in the middle of the final frame with both teams getting decent looks (Samberg point shot with Niederreiter screening, a Hawk 1-timer denied by Bucky’s glove, AJF setting up Toninato for a shot that hit iron, Namestnikov stoned by yet another post from the slot, Chicago’s Raddysh getting a prime opportunity to score, etc). Another Winnipeg defenseman had a quality look when DeMelo joined a rush, but his shot from a prime location didn’t even test Mrazek. Niederreiter tried to power through 3 Hawks for another scoring chance, forcing them to haul him down. Winnipeg’s PP limped onto the ice for their 4th attempt of the game and the 2nd unit started things out. Despite winning the face-off, the Jets couldn’t get established in the opening minute. The “top” PP unit did a bit better after Lowry came on to win the draw, almost setting up Vilardi for a couple chances in the blue paint. With the powerplay over, the final 30 seconds saw great chances for both teams, but quality defense by Dillon & Niederreiter denied Chicago a last second shot on Hellebuyck.
With a guaranteed point in their back pockets, Winnipeg & Chicago headed to overtime after a brief break. Despite rushing back and forth for the opening minute, the teams really couldn’t create any dangerous opportunities. The Jets got the best early chance when Morrissey was sent in all alone at the end of a shift, but the defender couldn’t find any space between Mrazek’s pads. The Blackhawks started a harmless looking rush with Bedard skating the puck up the middle of the ice, with 3 Winnipeg defenders between him and Hellebuyck. Unfortunately, the Jets didn’t use their man-advantage well and allowed the young phenom to skate into the mid-slot. A nice toe drag move allowed him to avoid Pionk’s body and Bedard quickly released a shot that cleanly beat Hellebucyk glove-side. An OT victory for the hometown Hawks, giving Bedard both markers tonight, as well as all three goals scored by Chicago this season versus Winnipeg. Us Jets’ fans might have to start getting used to Bedard doing amazing things against our poor team because he’ll be a Hawk for a long time.
FINAL SCORE: CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS 2 WINNIPEG JETS 1 (OT)
SHOTS: WINNIPEG JETS 38 CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS 25
Game Observations:
- MoneyPuck Stats: 86% Deserve to Win for the Jets, 3.97 to 1.52 in expected goals (all situations) for the Jets, and 3.74 to 1.20 in expected goals (5 on 5) for the Jets.
- Despite the entire Winnipeg squad not playing to the best of their abilities, the Jets did control the play last night, as shown by one of the highest Deserve to Win ratings I have seen this season (86% for Winnipeg).
- While the Jets ended up coming up short on Thursday, they did come very close to scoring a lot more with 5 or 6 posts/crossbars rung by Winnipeg shots.
- Two of the better Jets last evening were Vladislav Namestnikov and Axel Jonsson-Fjallby. The Russian center helped the 2nd line of Alex Iafallo & Cole Perfetti to lead the team in shot attempts (14). Winnipeg’s bottom line didn’t get a whole lot of ice-time, but they still created scoring chances and AJF set up Morgan Barron for the Jets only goal of the game.
- Winnipeg’s top line was fairly invisible against Chicago. It was by far the lowest effort outing of Mark Scheifele’s season and his linemates (Nik Ehlers & Gabe Vilardi) only managed 3 shots a piece. Scheifele was routed in the face-off circle, going 5 of 18 at the dot, as he was completely owned by the Hawks’ Dickinson (beat #55 nine of ten times).
- All of the Jets’ offensive defensemen were involved in the attack, with Josh Morrissey, Neal Pionk, and Nate Schmidt all registering 4 shots.
- With David Gustafsson unable to go last night, Winnipeg inserted Dominic Toninato into the lineup against Chicago. The veteran did manage to get himself into some prime scoring areas, but his four shot attempts were either blocked, sailed wide of the net, or hit a post. The Manitoba Moose were still off on their holiday break last night and I wonder if that played a role in who would replace the injured Gus Bus. Hopefully if the Swedish center will have to miss any further games, the Jets might consider giving one of their young prospects a taste of NHL action.
The Winnipeg Jets couldn’t pull out a win, but at least they walked away with a point and conveniently the rest of the Central Division’s top teams also lost. As a result, the Jets, Avs, & Stars are all jammed in tightly in the standings with only 1 point separating the teams.
The Jets do make NHL history with their 23rd straight game without allowing 4 goals against (or for 2b9, only allowing 3 goals or less). Proof positive that Rick Bowness’ systems can result in great defensive play with the right personnel and attitude. The NHL record books were busy last night, as the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Kris Letang also had his name added with 5 assists in one period (first time a defenseman has ever done that).
NEXT GAME: Minnesota Wild @ Winnipeg Jets – Saturday, December 30th @ 2:00 pm Central
The Manitoba Moose are preparing to face off against the Texas Stars for a two game series this weekend and they will be in for a challenge, as the Stars are the AHL’s Central Division leading franchise. Texas features the top 2 AHL scorers in Mavrik Bourque (37 pts) and Logan Stankoven (35 pts), so Manitoba’s stars Brad Lambert (21 pts) and Nikita Chibrikov (21 pts) will have their hands full. If you are looking for something to do on Friday or Sunday, maybe a trip to the Canada Life Centre to watch the Moose play is the thing for you.
Looking for an easy way to support Arctic Ice Hockey Use our Affiliate Link when shopping hockey merch this holiday season!
