The Winnipeg Jets overcame a slow start to trash the Vancouver Canucks and posted their ninth straight win over this opponent. The final result was 4-1 for the hosts, who demolished the old rival after conceding the opening goal.
Canucks were better in the first period, but they couldn’t beat excellent Connor Hellebuyck, who ended the game with 32 saves, and 13 of them were in the opening 20 minutes. The fans at Bell MTS Place didn’t saw anything exciting, but that all changed in the second frame.
JT Miller scored the first goal of the game at 6:53, bringing the guests up. But the home team responded pretty quickly with a power-play score by Jack Roslovic, who scored on his own rebound at 11:54.
Exactly five minutes later, Mark Scheifele completely changed the result, pushing the Jets to their first lead of the game, and giving the additional swing to his teammates. From that moment on, the Canucks started being more aggressive, and they gave their best to beat Hellebuyck, but the Jets’ goalie was simply astonishing.
He stopped Bo Horvat’s shot, enabling a quick breakaway for his team, which ended with Kyle Connor’s execution.
“I would like to have that one back, for sure. He made a heck of a save on me. If I bury that it’s 2-2, and all of a sudden, they go down and score to make it a two-goal hockey game. It’s frustrating,” said Horvat.
Vancouver tried even harder to at least cut the deficit, but they couldn’t get past Hellebuyck, who was, according to the Jets’ players, the main reason why they lost the contest. In the decisive moments of the game, the Jets’ goalie couldn’t be beaten.
“We had a few chances in the third when it was 2-1 to tie the game. Their goalie made a couple of great saves, an [Elias Pettersson] backdoor [attempt] and Jake [Virtanen] had a breakaway,” said Christopher Tanev, Canucks defenseman.
Eventually, their coach Travis Green pulled goalie Thatcher Demko off the ice to brought in an extra attacker, but it didn’t pay off. In fact, the Jets scored once more, when Adam Lowry hit an empty-netter.
This was the third game over the previous four days for the Canucks, who lost all of them. It appears that the fatigue hit them hard in the second period, as they had a game in Chicago against the Blackhawks the night before.
“I think we had a little bit of an advantage. Those guys played in Chicago last night. That’s a real tough turnaround,” said Blake Wheeler.
The Canucks (9-5-3) will now play the next four events at home, the first one being versus the New Jersey Devils on Sunday. After that, they host the Nashville Predators, Dallas Stars, and the Colorado Avalanche.
Winnipeg (9-7-1) hosts the Stars tomorrow and the Avalanche on Tuesday. After that, Paul Maurice’s guys head on to a four-game trip, during which they meet the Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Nashville Predators and the Stars in Dallas.
