| 1. aliciahuang - 27 ßíâàðÿ, 2018 - 09:34:40 |
A skillful display in the shootout and a critical coach's challenge by Paul Maurice helped Winnipeg pick up two important points on Saturday.
Bryan Little and Blake Wheeler scored in the tiebreaker,Authentic Henrik Sedin jersey, and the Jets beat Calgary 2-1 to snap the Flames' seven-game winning streak.
Little opened the shootout with a wrist shot inside the post and past Mike Smith. After Mark Jankowski and Sean Monahan were stopped by Connor Hellebuyck, and Smith stopped Patrik Laine,adidas Bo Horvat jersey, Wheeler clinched it on a deke to his forehand.
"A big win coming off two losses," said Mathieu Perreault, who scored the lone Jets goal in regulation. "We needed to bounce back and we did."
that's for sure,adidas Alex Ovechkin jersey,"We didn't play our best today," Smith said. "That's a positive coming out of a game like that where maybe you don't feel like you played your best but you find ways to get points,adidas Braden Holtby jersey, but we ended up getting a point against a really good team, and that's important down the stretch."
Winnipeg was on a 6-0-1 tear before limping into the bye week last Saturday off back-to-back losses. The Jets are second in the Central Division, one point behind Nashville.
"It's huge,adidas T. J. Oshie jersey," Hellebuyck said. "We've been in the situation a lot this year and we've been on the wrong side of it, so to be on the right side of it and get the good feeling off the break is going to help us carry the momentum."
With both teams coming off their bye week, the rust was evident early on with missed passes and sloppy play. Calgary was last in action on Sunday and the Jets had been off since last Saturday.
"I didn't see it the same way. It was called a goal on the ice. He made the first save after the contact. The puck was loose. I don't know if he could have got to it, even after contact," Gulutzan said.
Winnipeg tied it on its 22nd shot at 10:47 of the second. Getting the puck in the slot, Little's backhand from 20 feet out was tipped by Perreault through Smith's pads.
Calgary is 6-1 in games decided in overtime, compared to 0-6 for Winnipeg.
"We didn't lose in it, so it's a step in the right direction," Wheeler said.
"We'd had our chances to win in overtime," Little said. "It definitely felt good tonight, especially after the way that game went."
Joel Armia also scored twice and Mathieu Perreault had one goal to help the Jets win their third straight and fifth in the last seven. Connor Hellebuyck finished with 29 saves.
"We got a really good start and they clawed their way back into it," Little said. "It was a good hockey game, back and forth. It's good to get the two points."
"It was a great comeback from all of us,adidas Ryan Miller jersey," Meier said. "We didn't get the start we wanted but we got a point out of it."
The Jets, who scored a goal apiece in each of its last four games, found the net three times in the first 12 minutes.
Perreault set the tone,Authentic Bo Horvat jersey, scoring 18 seconds into the game with an assist from Nikolaj Ehlers.
Andrew Copp set up Armia's first goal with a terrific pass from the blue line less than five minutes into the game.
Little scored on a power play, redirecting Tyler Myers shot past Dell to make it 3-0 with just over just over eight minutes left in the opening period.
"You don't want to give up the lead but you stick with the game plan,Authentic Alex Ovechkin jersey," Myers said. "I thought the last 21 minutes we played very well."
The Sharks tied the score with two goals within a four-minute stretch of the second period.
Couture was trying to pass the puck midway through the period and flared on it. The puck floated between a pair of Jets' defenders as Couture spun around 360 degrees and found it sitting on open ice. He struck quickly, before the puck was located by anyone else.
Tierney's power-play goal came after a sharp left-to-right pass across the ice by Joe Thornton.
There was a time in Winnipeg where a one-goal lead would end in a one-goal loss. A time when no lead was safe and it was oddly better to see the Jets trying to climb back from behind than leading heading down the home stretch.
The Jets have learned much since those days, as evidenced by their top spot in the Central Division.
A 90-second 6-on-4 to close out Sunday’s game against the Vancouver Canucks highlighted a new shift in how the Jets conduct their business on the ice.
The above scenario may have spelled doom more often than not in years gone by,Authentic Braden Holtby jersey, but Sunday illuminated how the Jets have been able to overcome those demons and forge ahead with a new philosophy that deploys calmness instead of frantic, poise instead of instability.
The Jets simply bore down when times became tough late in Sunday’s game. Those 90 seconds showed the evolution of the maturity within the team’s defensive structure. They didn’t allow a single shot to touch All-Star goalie Connor Hellebuyck and time simply expired for the Canucks, who couldn’t solve Winnipeg’s riddle.
who has been the Jets best blueliner this season. “I think that’s been a big growth point for our time.”,Authentic T. J. Oshie jersey,“I think we’re able to play in those tight games, those low-scoring games and feel we can win those,” said defenseman Josh Morrissey
“That’s part of the thing where we want to limit the chances against… limiting that second and third opportunity… sort of by not panicking in those situations when a scrum happens or a chance against happens and being able to have some poise and sort it out, so to speak,” Morrissey said.
The buy-in from the fifth youngest team in the NHL, and one that scores more goals than all but three other NHL outfits, is remarkable.
“I think they have a real strong understanding of what they’re supposed to be doing ,” Jets head coach Paul Maurice said after Sunday’s win. “We’re still young in just age on some guys, but the overall structure their understanding’s good. I think the back end has really helped. You take two centers out of your lineup it puts an awful lot of stress on your defense.”
Maurice has spoken at length about the reasons he feels his team has figured out the defensive aspects of the game of hockey. He touched on part of the equation on Sunday.
“Having six NHL defencemen makes a difference,” Maurice said, alluding to the fact the Jets spent very little time healthy on the blue line last season. “Being healthy on the back end makes a difference. They control an awful lot of the play. (We’ve got a ) goaltender who’s got a lot of confidence in the pipes. And I go back to center ice. We’ve asked Blake (Wheeler) and Andrew Copp to be really strong and they have been.”
Even the team’s most offensive and offensively gifted player is seeing the light.
it doesn’t matter if we’re chasing or leading,“As a team,” said Patrik Laine, we want to play the same game, the Finnish phenom who leads the Jets with 21 goals this season. “We want to play tight defense and give them nothing and try to be patient. We can’t open up our game.”
who played his 100th NHL game only recently,Authentic Ryan Miller jersey,Laine, even if his confidence has at times this year, has stumbled at times this season. His offensive capabilities haven’t left him, but he’s had little choice but to work on the game played in his own zone.
And the 19-year-old seems to have a keen understanding of what lies ahead for the Jets as they grind toward their second playoff berth since relocating from Atlanta in 2011.
“It’s going to be like this for the next couple of months but everybody here in this locker room is comfortable with that kind of game and that’s the reason why we’re winning,adidas Henrik Sedin jersey,” Laine said. “We’re a tight defensive team and we’ve got to score on the few chances that we get.”
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