Well, first I will apologize for the delay in posting my recap, but a combination of sleeping in (late game vs Kraken and stayed up even later since I just bought EA’s NHL 24) and the number of articles I need to do today (Recap, Preview, Toffoli trade article) have put me well behind. Therefore, this recap will be much shorter than usual, but fortunately it was a defensive affair against the Seattle Kraken, so I won’t have to gloss over too much.
When the puck dropped on the opening period, I thought the Winnipeg Jets were clearly the better team out of the gate. Our squad spent most of the time in Seattle’s zone in the 1st period, but really did have a problem piercing the Kraken’s defensive structure. While the hometown sea monsters pretty much only got offensive looks on counter-attacks resulting from Jets’ turnovers, Brossoit did have to make a couple quality saves to keep the game scoreless. Niederreiter likely had Winnipeg’s best opportunity, but he failed to test Daccord when he missed the net from the low slot. In a period of great defense, a couple plays stood out to my eyes (Scheifele great backcheck to break up a rush and a great sliding pokecheck by Samberg to end a 2 on 1 rush). The shot chart below shows how the Jets were kept to the perimeter in the 1st and where Seattle’s two quality looks came from.
First Period MoneyPuck Stats: Score: 0 to 0, shots 9 to 8 for the Jets, 55% Deserve To Win for the Kraken, Expected Goals – all situations (0.48-0.28 WPG), & 5 on 5 (0.48-0.28 WPG)
The 2nd frame saw more tight checking hockey with limited scoring chances for either team, but both the Jets & Kraken had one great opportunity. Seattle’s came early in the period when a Kraken 3 on 2 rush saw Beniers ring a shot solidly off a post, while Winnipeg’s occurred when Scheifele slid a fantastic cross-crease pass to a pinching Morrissey and I’m still not entirely sure how #44 missed what appeared to be a wide open cage. When looking at the advanced stats & shot chart below, you will see that the Jets started to send more shots in Daccord’s direction and were finally able to get a couple from the high danger areas. You will also notice that the Kraken had a few more quality looks on Brossoit, but Winnipeg’s backup played extremely well when called on.
After Two Periods MoneyPuck Stats: Score: 0 to 0, shots 17 to 12 for the Jets, 55% Deserve to Win for the Kraken, Expected Goals – all situations (1.07-0.88 SEA) & 5 on 5 (1.07-0.88 SEA)
The Winnipeg Jets almost coughed up the lead when Ehlers had a brutal turnover at his own blueline, but once again Brossoit comes up big to deny Bjorkstrand’s shot. The Jets started to pick up their intensity and slowly the ice began to tilt in their favour. Great forechecking by Scheifele and others allowed Winnipeg to spend multiple shifts cycling the Kraken’s end looking for a weakness. They finally had success when Morrissey stopped a clearing attempt at Seattle’s blueline, poking the puck to Namestnikov while fighting off a Kraken forward. The Russian forward moved the puck to Scheifele down-low in the zone and the Jets’ top center quickly drove across the crease to jam the puck by a sprawling Daccord. With a 1-0 lead and 13 minutes to play, the visitors tried to shut things down. Seattle had a great chance to even things up when they got the only PP chance of the game, but Samberg & Brossoit teamed up to deny any chances the Kraken got with the man-advantage. Winnipeg was able to give themselves some breathing room when Niederreiter rushed up the ice and unleashed a howitzer towards Daccord. The goalie let out a big rebound and Appleton was there to try to make it 2-0. Possibly unsurprisingly, Apples failed to beat the tender, but big Lowry came in to clean things up – adding his 2nd goal in the last 2 games. The game was sealed with a late empty netter by Ehlers and Brossoit picked up his 1st shut out of the year in a solid if not exciting performance by Winnipeg. The stats and shots definitely show how the Jets swarmed the Krakens’ zone in the 3rd period.
After Three Periods MoneyPuck Stats: 61.5% Deserve to Win for the Jets, Expected Goals – all situations (2.31-1.68 WPG) & 5 on 5 (2.31-1.44 WPG)
FINAL SCORE: WINNIPEG JETS 3 SEATTLE KRAKEN 0
SHOTS: WINNIPEG JETS 32 SEATTLE KRAKEN 17
Game Observations:
- The 4th career shutout for Laurent Brossoit, who turned aside all 17 shots he faced in a solid performance. What a pleasure it is to have a backup who the coaching staff can trust to relieve Connor Hellebuyck with consistent performances.
- I haven’t said it enough this season, but Mark Scheifele has been very effective at both ends of the ice this season. Really enjoying his efforts and in my opinion, there is no other Winnipeg forward who comes close to being as impactful for the Jets. Nice dangle for the game winner, but he does need to adopt a bit more of a shoot-first thought process, as he could take more advantage of his impressive shot.
- A pretty ugly night for Nikolaj Ehlers. Too many passes resulting in turnovers at bad places on the ice (offensive blueline, neutral zone, and defensive end). I (and probably Rick Bowness) don’t mind the occasional slip up in the pursuit of offensive, but you have to pick your places to make the gambles.
- Another great game by the Adam Lowry, Nino Niederreiter, & Mason Appleton trio. A team leading 73.6% of expected goals made them the best forward unit versus Seattle. The 1st line (66.8%) also did well, but the 2nd (49.3%) and 4th (14.8%) struggled a bit more.
NEXT GAME: Winnipeg Jets @ Vancouver Canucks – Saturday, March 9th @ 9:00 pm Central
Alright……two articles done, one more to go. Probably will make something to eat before taking a dive into what newly acquired Tyler Toffoli can bring to the Winnipeg Jets.
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