A Central Division clash between the Winnipeg Jets and Minnesota Wild was on tap for a sunny Saturday afternoon….so lets find out if our squad could continue their winning streak.
Things didn’t start out well for the Jets, as they end up giving a 2 on 1 rush that quickly turned into a Minnesota breakaway. Fortunately Winnipeg’s Vezina-caliber goaltender kept the game scoreless as Hellebuyck flashed a glove. The Jets picked things up and after a cycle shift by the 2nd line, the 4th unit followed up with more pressure. Dumping the puck in to the Wild zone, Barron was heavy on the forecheck and ended up forcing a loose puck that found Iafallo behind Minnesota’s net. The winger quickly identified an open Namestnikov right in front of the crease and the Russian netted his 11th of the season to give the Jets a 1-0 lead 3 minutes into the match. After some back & forth rushes, Connor loses the puck along the defensive boards and an immediate pass to the slot allowed Kaprizov to spin and beat Bucky with a backhander. With the game knotted and 11 minutes to play, Winnipeg’s 4th line had another cycle shift before the Jets give up a 4 on 2 rush. The Wild came oh-so-close when a rebound popped out to a wide open Boldy, but a great defensive stick by Lowry stopped the potential goal-ahead goal. Minnesota continued to push for a bit, but when Perfetti ties up his defenseman at the Jets’ blueline, it allowed the puck to escape into the neutral zone. Monahan won the race and Winnipeg was off on a 2 on 1 counter-attack that saw the center set up Connor for his 31st goal of the year. Once again, the Wild would not go away as they tied up the match on a powerplay with a cross-ice pass & 1 timer for Kaprizov. A bit later, Scheifele fails to clear the zone and Minnesota’s pressure results in Pionk taking an interference penalty. This time, the Jets’ PKers did a good job (Samberg blocks and Lowry fails to go 5 hole on a SH breakaway) and the teams entered the first intermission with the game tied up. MoneyPuck says both franchises were getting quality looks in the info below.
First Period MoneyPuck Stats: Score: 2 to 2 tie, shots 11 to 10 for the Jets, 58% Deserve To Win for the Jets, Expected Goals – all situations (1.01-0.89 WPG), & 5 on 5 (0.76-0.48 WPG)
Onto the middle frame where Winnipeg got their 1st powerplay opportunity of the game 3 minutes in. After a beautiful move at the blueline by Morrissey allowed him to cut into the slot for a chance, it was denied by a slash to give the Jets the man-advantage. Our squad struggled to get set up early and their best chances were of the “almost” type (Scheifele comes close to finding Monahan at the backdoor, but the puck pops over his stick along with Scheifele & Connor shots blocked). Once again, Minnesota comes very close to another goal when a slapshot bounced hard off the backboards and gave a Wild player a great look at a wide open net, but Pionk was there to save the day by clearing the loose puck just in time. Winnipeg spent a lot of the first half of the period defending, but Minnesota wasn’t penetrating the defensive structure to create scoring chances. The one time they did, Hellebuyck was there to deny a 1 timer from 3 ft out after a cross-ice pass managed to slip through the slot. Around the mid-point of the period, the Jets picked up their pace and started to get some chances (Vilardi just pokes a rebound wide & quality look by Ehlers blocked). The 4th line decided they were tired of Winnipeg’s lack of scoring and went back to work. This time they followed up a cycle shift by the Scheifele trio and continued to test the Wild defense. When the puck worked its way back to the left point, Dillon let go a blast through the traffic in front and all I heard was the ting of the post before cheering Winnipeg’s go-ahead goal. It took some very keen eyes or a great slo-mo replay to pick out that Iafallo actually deflected the point shot by the Wild’s Fleury with 6 minutes to play in the period. Minnesota were determined to tie things up and they started to control the puck, allowing chances like these: a rebound pops out to the open side but a Wild player’s stab at the puck sent it dribbling by the far post, great save by Bucky from the right face-off dot, and a long cycle with Namestnikov stick-less. Barron got a bit aggressive trying to clear the zone and took an interference penalty, but even though they spent significant time in their zone the Jets didn’t allow anything dangerous on the PK. The Wild continued to buzz on the forecheck as the period ended and Minnesota’s 2nd period allowed them to pull ahead in some of the advanced stats.
After Two Periods MoneyPuck Stats: Score: 3 to 2 for the Jets, shots 19 to 17 for the Jets, 58% Deserve to Win for the Wild, Expected Goals – all situations (1.92-1.59 MIN) & 5 on 5 (1.32-1.06 WPG)
Once again, Winnipeg gives up an early period chance but Hellebuyck got a shoulder on Kaprizov’s attempt for a hattrick. The Jets pick things up and get a bunch of chances (rush by 1st line, quality shot by the 2nd’s Perfetti, & Iafallo sending Lowry on his 2nd breakaway of the game). Ehlers shows off his eye-hand abilities when he knocks a chest-height “pass” out of the air at center before corralling the puck and blasting a slapper on Fleury. Scheifele skated up the ice and allowed an easy zone entry for Winnipeg before the 1st line set about a long cycle shift. While they didn’t end up with any shots, they allowed the 4th line to take their place while controlling the puck in the o-zone. Once again, the 4th capitalizes on some tired defenders when a Samberg point shot was deflected by Barron in the net-front area. With 10 minutes remaining, Minnesota almost made it a game when another rebound chance was foiled (this time by Perfetti). An offensive zone shift by the Lowry line saw Kaprizov nabbed for holding, but the Jets did very little with the opportunity (Morrissey almost picked out Namestnikov for a backdoor tap in). As the clock neared the 3 minute mark, the Wild got a boon when Barron got called for a high-stick, but a man-advantage and a pulled goalie still wasn’t enough for them to solve Hellebuyck again. Here is how MoneyPuck saw the whole game…..seems both teams didn’t do a great job at stopping chances from prime scoring areas as the creases are surrounded by “bubbles” or “dots”.
After Three Periods MoneyPuck Stats: 58% Deserve to Win for the Jets, Expected Goals – all situations (2.62-2.45 MIN) & 5 on 5 (2.17-1.21 WPG)
FINAL SCORE: WINNIPEG JETS 4 MINNESOTA WILD 2
SHOTS: MINNESOTA WILD 27 WINNIPEG JETS 25
Game Observations:
- What a game by the 4th line of Morgan Barron, Vladislav Namestnikov, and Alex Iafallo!! All three ended up scoring a goal and Vladdy had a 3 pt night. The trio had 100% of the expected goals in 7:34 of ice-time, outshooting opponents 6 to nothing.
- While the talents of Gabriel Vilardi are obvious and I hope he will play a big role in Winnipeg’s future, the key acquisition from the PLD deal may end up being Alex Iafallo. The veteran winger has the perfect attitude and work ethic to show his teammates how to play the self-less style of hockey necessary to win in the post-season. Here’s hoping they follow his lead.
- The Winnipeg Jets are now on a 3 game winning streak, their 5th streak of that length this season. The Peggers have also had two 4 game, one 5 game, and one 8 game hot streaks this year. Will they be able to pick up a key win in their next game to add another longer tear to their total?
- Just another average day at the office for Connor Hellebuyck, as he put up a .926 save percentage on 26 Minnesota shots for a 0.62 Goals Saved Above Average rating.
- While the 3rd line hasn’t really been productive with Tyler Toffoli on the unit, it has continued to create chances. The winger has been up there in shots when playing with Adam Lowry & Mason Appleton and yesterday was no different (tied for 1st with Neal Pionk – 4 shots).
- Once again, here are the individual expected goals, courtesy of our pals at MoneyPuck:
One Central Division opponent down, three more to go…
NEXT GAME: Winnipeg Jets @ Nashville Predators – Tuesday, April 9th @ 7:00 pm Central
That match will be a big opportunity to end the Preds chase of the Jets for good…..should be interesting to see how our squad responds to the tough competition to close out the season. The final standings are far from set, with Winnipeg trailing Colorado by just 2 pts and division leading Dallas only 5 pts up. All those teams will play each other before the regular season concludes…so lots to be decided.
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